


'Til The End Of Time

by unwrittengold



Category: Torchwood
Genre: Hurt Ianto Jones, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-19
Updated: 2020-11-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:22:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 22,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27628801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unwrittengold/pseuds/unwrittengold
Summary: Originally written way back in 2008 for the livejournal communitythestopwatchsummer fic exchange under the name ivegotthemusic. This and another story I wrote (Ashes To Flames) were reworked into the Soul Song saga after more canon material came out for me to use.Summary: Ianto is missing and all the evidence the Torchwood team comes across in their search to find him says that he is dead. Jack, however, believes that he is still alive and will do everything in his power to get his Ianto back before time runs out.
Relationships: Jack Harkness/Ianto Jones
Comments: 8
Kudos: 44





	'Til The End Of Time

**Author's Note:**

> So this is the second Torchwood fic I ever really truly wrote, haha. I thought it would be fun for the people who are enjoying the Soul Song saga to read through this and compare and contrast what's different and what's stayed the same! Hopefully my writing has improved at least a little bit in the last 12 years...
> 
> Thank you for bearing with me as I continue to work on the Soul Song saga! I hope to have the next chapter of Song's Interlude up before the end of November, and I'd ideally like to have the whole story finished before the end of the year since it's going to be the shortest fic in the saga, so I'm going to make that my goal! I went from having one eight-hour-a-week job to having three jobs so yay more money but it also means writing time has been scarce 8D I present this story as somewhat of a peace offering to let people know I still haven't given up on completing the saga! Slow but steady wins the race!
> 
> This story takes place after Adam but before Reset. I based the title of the story on the song 'Till The End Of Time by Jason and deMarco. It’s a cover of the song played in They Keep Killing Suzie, and I feel this cover fits Jack and Ianto much better. If you ever have a chance, find this version and listen to it! (There's another Jason and deMarco song called Trying To Get To You I used as inspiration for the rest of the Soul Song saga... It'll give you a little preview about what's to come in the rest of the series, bwahahahaha. >D)
> 
> One last thing to note, this story contains some sexual content and the usual canon-typical violence, but none of it is too graphically described. If you feel I need to change my rating or add in warnings though, please let me know, and I will do so!

It was a slow, nothing worth noting kind of day at Torchwood. When Ianto had made his way down to the archives thirty-two minutes ago to organize some files that were already organized, Toshiko was tinkering with some object, the only one actually doing something productive. Owen was playing a video game and Jack was pretending to be sorting through some files, but Ianto knew better than to believe he was actually getting anything productive done. Gwen was gone on a weekend holiday to Paris with Rhys. After the events at the slaughterhouse with the space whale, Jack seemed to let Gwen do whatever she wanted just as long as she didn’t quit. Ianto hoped it wouldn’t last for much longer.

He was in the middle of thumbing through the S section, checking to see if there was anything he’d missed when he’d gone through all the archives more than 50 times before. Maybe he would get lucky and find some file that was added before he was hired, although he knew he wouldn’t. Ianto knew the contents of the archives better than what was in his own home.

“Ianto,” said a familiar voice that, although Ianto would _never_ admit it, always made him want to smile, but as he did every time Jack was around, Ianto resisted the urge to do so. He had no doubt he would get teased mercilessly by his colleagues if they knew that every time Jack opened his mouth and spoke to him, he had to fight not to smile like a fifteen-year-old with a new head-over-heels crush. And Jack, well… If Jack ever found out, he’d never let Ianto forget it. Ever.

“Yes, Jack?” Ianto responded, slipping the file on the Sycorax back into its correct place as he stood up. He brushed his suit down before he finally raised his head to look at his boss and lover.

Jack was leaning against the doorway with a little grin on his face that told Ianto he was thinking something mischievous. “Something interesting just got called in to the police.”

Ianto raised an eyebrow. “And?”

“Toshiko wants to finish the project she’s working on and I figured I’d make Owen stay here even though he volunteered because he’s the only one not doing any work. He’s complaining about being bored yet playing video games instead of doing his job.” Jack shrugged. “So I ordered him to keep on playing his game unless some life-threatening, world-ending situation comes up. That leaves you.”

Ianto rolled his eyes. “Hopefully he’ll be doing something else when we get back.” He followed Jack out of the Archives when the other man turned around and walked out. “What are we investigating?”

“It seems an office has a rodent infestation,” Jack informed him as they headed back up to the center of the Hub.

Ianto could plainly hear the humor in Jack’s tone. “I see,” he replied, knowing Jack would tell him the catch fairly soon.

“With mice.”

“Uh-huh.”

“That are bright blue and green.”

“Do they shift colors between blue and green?” Ianto asked without missing a beat.

Jack threw a mostly amused but slightly confused glance over his shoulder. “Dunno, they didn’t say when they called it in.”

“Might possibly be Vidrian mice.”

“What?”

“Vidrian mice. They look like gerbils although they’re slightly bigger and their fur shifts colors between blue and green. They’re harmless.”

“Run into them before?”

“No, but while you were gone a Vidrian ambassador visited the planet. I asked him some questions about his world and he included information about the mice. They’re a popular house pet.”

“Ah.”

They walked for a few moments in silence. Jack’s time away was no longer a sour note between them, considering the long talk they had after John left, but Ianto knew that what happened to Jack while he was gone still weighed on his mind.

“When we get back, I should send the others home, call it an early night,” Jack said, breaking the silence. He cast a grin at Ianto. “What do you say we get a drink afterwards then head back to your place?”

“Usually it works the other way around with _me_ inviting _you_ to _my_ home, but yes, that would be nice,” Ianto replied, smiling slightly.

“Great! Hopefully this won’t take too long.”

*********************************************************

Jack let out an exaggerated groan. “Ianto, this is taking so long.”

Ianto sighed. “May I remind you that you were the one who brought the cheese.”

“I didn’t know it kills them! I thought mice, cheese, hey,” Jack said, grasping onto the edge of the desk and using it to help push him around in circles in the swirly chair he was sitting in.

Ianto resisted the urge to sigh again, folding his arms across his chest as he leaned against the desk Jack was sitting at. “At least we had the traps set up before we had to get the strawberries.”

“Who knew strawberries were a house pet delicacy on Vidria,” Jack responded, using the desk to give himself another whirl.

“They’re not _exactly_ strawberries but they’re close enough that they work,” Ianto corrected him. “Hopefully the guards were telling the truth when they said there were only about a dozen. We shouldn’t have to wait much longer for them to find the traps.”

“Wish there was something else to do,” Jack complained.

This time, Ianto didn’t bother holding back his sigh. “It’ll probably be around 30 minutes.”

There was something in his tone that made Jack stop spinning in the chair and look up at him curiously. Ianto could feel his questioning gaze on him as he studied what was on the desk intently.

“What are you doing?” Jack asked.

“Well, we’re in an office building. There are guards standing at the doors to make sure no one comes in until we catch the mice, and they were also instructed not to come inside.”

“That doesn’t explain why you’re staring at a desk.”

“I’m memorizing where everything goes so when you sweep it all off onto the floor in a few seconds, I can put everything back when we’re done.”

Ianto could practically hear Jack’s mouth fall open as he stared at him in shock. He bit down on the insides of his cheeks to keep himself from smirking. It felt good to be the one to surprise Jack every now and then.

Jack surged to his feet and, sure enough, with one long sweep of his arm, knocked everything off the desk. Pens, pencils, and other office supplies scattered and rolled on the floor as sheets of papers flew into the air to slowly float down to the ground. It was clear Jack couldn’t care less about the mess as he grabbed Ianto’s tie and tugged him forward to kiss him as hard as he could.

Ianto reached up to grasp his elbow, leaning forward into the kiss. He didn’t think he would ever get tired of Jack’s kisses. Every one made him feel like Jack was somehow transferring the boundless energy he seemed to have most of the time into Ianto, making him feel more alive, light, and content.

He could feel how much his surprise announcement had… _excited_ Jack. It wasn’t hard to miss with the way Jack pinned him against the desk with his hips, clearly not about to let him go anywhere else anytime soon. Ianto didn’t mind… just as long as no one walked in on them. Hopefully the guards would do as they were told and stay put.

“Stop thinking,” Jack ordered him gently, shifting a thigh to slide in between Ianto’s legs.

Resting a hand on the back of Jack’s neck and tugging his head closer, Ianto took the opportunity while Jack had his mouth open to slip his tongue inside with a soft moan.

Jack brought one hand up to cup the side of Ianto’s face as they kissed, using the other to unbutton Ianto’s suit jacket and shirt. It wasn’t long before Jack had his shirt pulled out of his trousers, hands warm on his chest.

Ianto tilted his head back in a silent gasp to allow Jack more room as he started to nip and suck the side of his neck. He grasped onto Jack’s coat and pushed it off so it fell to the floor.

Jack lowered his hands to undo Ianto’s trousers and –

A harsh voice and the end of a pistol getting smashed into his face brought him painfully back to reality. “Wake up!”

Ianto sucked in a sharp breath as his face throbbed. He could feel blood seeping from his nose. His numb arms were wrapped around behind the chair he was sitting in, wrists handcuffed and feet tied to the legs. A lone light bulb was above him, lighting up the room dimly. What a classic kidnapping scenario. Really, he expected more from his captors, considering he’d worked with them before.

“Water,” the same voice said. A glass of the liquid was pressed against his mouth and Ianto tilted his head back to drink a fourth of it before it was pulled away. The fact that they were giving him two glasses of water a day but not food meant they wanted him to suffer but not die – which was a good thing in Ianto’s current situation.

“Now. Are you ready to talk?”

“I told you,” Ianto replied in a weary tone, licking his dry lips to wet them, “I don’t know what you’re talking about and since I don’t know what you’re talking about, I certainly don’t know where it is.”

The man who was speaking chuckled. “Ianto, Ianto, Ianto. I think you’re lying. You’ve got such a good memory. I know you know everything that’s in those archives. I know it’s there so I know you know where it is. It’d be better if you just admitted to it. I’m sure you want to go home. You must be hungry. You haven’t eaten for at least a day, if not more.”

“I told you, Ben,” Ianto repeated, “I don’t know where it is.”

The rest of the glass of water was thrown in his face. Ianto didn’t flinch, just blinked until the water cleared from his eyes as it ran down in thin streams.

Ben glared at him angrily. “I’ll be back later. Hopefully you’ll be in a more talkative mood because if you aren’t, I’ll make you be in one. No one’s coming for you so we’ve got all the time in the world.” Ben stormed out and the young man helping him scurried after. The door slammed shut and Ianto heard the click of a lock sliding into place.

He smiled. So far, the odds weren’t bad. They didn’t want him dead because they believed he knew where what they wanted was. He didn’t, but they probably thought he wouldn’t tell them even if he did know. Most importantly, he had Jack.

Ianto had blind faith that Jack would find him, wouldn’t give up until he did. Jack was looking for him right now, he knew it, so the least he could do was do his best to stay alive until he came for him. As Ianto continued to struggle to get free of his bonds, he continued to think about happy memories of Jack, inspiring him to not give up and keep fighting until he was safe with him once again.

*********************************************************

“Jack. Think about this,” Owen said seriously, walking fast to keep up with Jack as they made their way back inside the Hub. “Seren confirmed that it was Ianto. You heard Tosh; she checked out the doctor.”

“He’s worked at the hospital for a year and before that, he worked for a hospital in London. I called and confirmed that he’d worked there for 8 years before he transferred here,” Toshiko reaffirmed.

“Something’s not right; a body just doesn’t disappear,” Jack argued. “Seren’s never seen Ianto before in her life. All she had was a picture of him when he was seventeen that her father gave to her. And why weren’t we notified first? I’m positive that if one of my team ends up in the hospital, the first person they’re supposed to call is me, not their next of kin.”

“The body might still be in the hospital somewhere. We should get it and bring it here so I can do an autopsy and figure out what killed him. That way we can track down the bastards that did it and give them what they deserve,” Owen insisted, pushing for revenge.

“Or it isn’t there at all.”

“Jack, they gave her all of Ianto’s personal things! His wallet, his mobile, his bloody keys! Even his Torchwood ID! There’s no way she could mistake him if she had a picture of him! He wouldn’t look completely different than he does now!”

“Ianto is _not_ dead, Owen!” Jack snapped, quickly started to lose his temper. “I would know if he were!”

“Jesus, Jack, it’s not like you love him, like you have some sort of _connection_ with him!”

Jack abruptly stopped and whirled around so fast that Owen almost crashed into him.

When Captain Jack Harkness didn’t want to answer a question, he usually didn’t, but there was no mistaking what he was telling Owen – and them all – in the simple glare he gave. It was a glare of anger, frustration, and if you knew to look for it, pain, and fear. It spoke a thousand words and gave one answer.

He did. In that one look, in that silence, they all knew Jack did love Ianto.

“Bloody hell,” Owen muttered after a few seconds.

“We are _finding_ him and we are getting him back,” Jack said in a tone that left no room for argument before turning around and stalking angrily into his office.

Gwen and Tosh shared a look before they went to their work stations, ready to do whatever was necessary to find Ianto… dead or alive.

“Bloody hell,” Owen repeated, following them.

*********************************************************

Dylan Yates made his way to the cell where Ianto Jones was being held. Truth be told, he felt a little bad for keeping the man against his will… but he believed in what Ben, Faith, and Alistair were doing, so he did what they told him to. Ben had given him the job of making sure Ianto was given water every day. They didn’t want him to die; they needed him too much for that to happen. Dylan was secretly glad about that. He hated seeing people die. He’d thought about maybe sneaking Ianto some food but didn’t for fear of Ben getting angry at him.

He was young, barely 20. Ben, Faith, and Alistair were the only family he had left. They’d taken him in, taught him things when he had no one else, and he was grateful to them for it, for not shielding him from the truth after what had happened…

Sighing, Dylan peeked through the window in the cell door, expecting to see Ianto still handcuffed to the chair. He started, almost dropping the glass of water when he saw it was empty. Quickly, he unlocked the door and went in, instead of going for help like he probably should have.

Ianto’d been trained by Jack in some hand to hand combat, so he knew exactly where to hit in order to knock the young man out as soon as he entered the room. The glass of water shattered on the ground. Kneeling down next to the unconscious Dylan, Ianto quickly looted through his pockets. “You should see the games I play with my boss. Makes getting out of handcuffs easy,” he informed him as he didn’t find a gun but a mobile instead. Getting an idea, he rose to his feet and moved out of the cell, looking for the nearest exit. As he made his escape, he quickly typed in a text message then sent it to Jack, having his number memorized by heart.

He was in some kind of warehouse. Choosing a direction, he set off, hoping he could get away on his own. He rounded a corner and came face to face with Ben and Faith.

Ben looked shocked to see him for a moment, then yanked out a handgun with a scowl, taking the safety off. Ianto made a mad dash for safety, hoping he wouldn’t be hit. He didn’t see Ben hand the gun to Faith.

Faith was a sharpshooter, one of the best on the force. He didn’t have much of a chance. The bullet hit him in the thigh and he went down with a scream. The phone slid out of his hand and scattered away somewhere on the floor as Ianto reached down to clutch his wounded leg with gritted teeth.

Ben and Faith made their way over to him and Faith pointed the gun at his head. “Ianto, Ianto. You really shouldn’t have done that,” Ben informed him, making tsk-ing sounds. “I’d hoped we’d be able to get through all this without having to hurt you too badly.” Turning to Faith, he snapped, “Take him back and _this_ time, make sure he’s tied up tightly! Have Alistair bind his leg first; we don’t want him bleeding to death.”

*********************************************************

Jack wouldn’t admit it but he was worried. Out of his whole team, he knew he could always, _always_ depend on Ianto, so when Ianto wasn’t at the Hub the same time he was every morning for work, Jack started to suspect something might be wrong. He waited for fifteen minutes to give Ianto a chance to call and explain in case something simple had happened, but when he didn’t, Jack’s concern grew. He called Ianto’s mobile three times only to get voicemail after a few rings. It was on, but Ianto wasn’t answering. He tried his home phone twice only to get the same thing.

“Tosh!” Jack called out, walking over to her work station.

Toshiko looked up from where she was rapidly typing away on her computer, pausing when she saw the look on Jack’s face. “What is it?”

“Do a trace on Ianto. He’s _never_ late, he hasn’t called, and I can’t reach him on either his mobile or at home,” he instructed, placing a hand on the back of her chair.

“Don’t you think you’re being a little paranoid?” Owen asked from his work station, spinning in his chair to face them. “He’s not even an hour late yet.”

“Ianto’s never late,” Jack insisted, watching as Tosh traced his mobile signal.

It only took Tosh a few seconds to bring up the information. She stared at the map on the screen in confusion. “He’s… at a hotel.”

“What?” Jack asked, a frown creasing his forehead.

“Hang on, he’s making a call right now…” Tosh said, watching as information unfolded on the monitor. The phone in Jack’s office started to ring, just as Tosh continued, “To you.”

Jack hurried back to his office and snatched up the phone as fast as he could. “Ianto?”

The line was silent for a moment before a female voice asked softly, “Did you know Ianto?”

A thousand different scenarios raced through Jack’s mind. Ianto was at a hotel room with a woman. “Where is he?” Jack demanded. “And why do you have his phone?”

“Ianto’s dead. I’m sorry,” the voice told him, sounding genuinely sad.

Jack’s whole body froze and he was unable to do or say anything for several seconds, before he said vehemently, “That’s impossible. Who the hell are you?”

“I’m so so sorry,” the voice said, letting out a dry sob. “I’m his second cousin, Seren Walker. I got a call from the hospital last night saying he’d been in an accident. I’m the only family he has left and I came as soon as I could. I went to the hospital and iden-“ Seren broke off to suck in a quick gasp of air as she babbled hysterically, “identified him and I’m so so sorry. They gave me his personal things and I heard the phone ring and-”

“Okay, calm down,” Jack broke in, not liking this at all. “My name is Jack Harkness. I’m Ianto’s-” Jack stopped, wondering how he should introduce himself to Ianto’s relative… if she was telling the truth. “I’m his friend,” he finally consented. “Are you still in the city? Would you mind meeting with me?”

Seren didn’t speak for a moment, taking in another deep breath. “His friend?”

“His friend,” Jack reaffirmed.

Seren didn’t question that further. “I’m staying at a hotel with my husband. I... I’ll meet with you,” she decided.

“Thank you.” Jack already knew what hotel she was at but let her tell him anyway so she wouldn’t suspect anything. After promising to be there shortly, he hung up then walked back into the main part of the Hub. “Everyone get your gear. Something’s happened to Ianto,” he ordered grimly.

*********************************************************

Ianto grimaced, struggling to get out of his new and improved bonds. His arms were no longer tied behind his back. Instead, his entire forearms were tied to the arms of the chair by a coil of rope. Ianto was glad he was wearing a suit; it prevented his arms from getting chaffed by the tight ropes. His back was firmly pressed up to the back of the chair from the rope they’d wrapped five times around his torso. His lower legs were in the same predicament that his arms were in. It was almost amusing the lengths they had taken to make sure he wouldn’t escape again; however, he knew he wasn’t going to be going anywhere soon. Ben had instructed Alistair and Faith to be thorough this time, and they had been.

His leg was burning and throbbing from where they’d wounded him. Alistair had wrapped a bandage tightly around it but besides that, hadn’t done anything else.

Ianto’d tried to get away, doing what he could to aid Jack in finding him, but now that he was back were he started, it was impossible to do anything but wait. Still, Ianto was confident. He believed in Jack because Ianto loved him and knew Jack loved him in return. His thoughts returned to memories of the two of them, bringing up one that would forever be locked away in his mind. He’d never forget…

*********************************************************

Ianto glanced over his shoulder as he walked up to the front door of his house. He knew it was silly to see if Jack was still there and following when he could hear his footsteps behind him but now that he was finally back…

Ianto held back a sigh. Inviting Jack to his place probably hadn’t been the best idea, but they needed to avoid themselves until morning so Jack couldn’t go to the Hub. The others, with the exception of maybe Tosh, weren’t going to invite him to come with them so it had been left to Ianto. So far, Jack had been silent, brooding over something. Probably something to do with this Gray that John mentioned. Ianto didn’t pry. If Jack wanted to tell him something, he would do it when he wanted to.

Opening the door, he stepped inside and held it open for Jack. “Here we are then. I’ll get you some blankets and a pillow if you’d like to sleep on the couch.”

That shifted Jack’s attention back to him. “Actually, I’d like to sleep in the bed,” he put in lightly with a hint of suggestion, watching him.

Ianto pointedly kept his back to him as he walked into the living room. “Alright. I’ll sleep on the couch then.”

Jack was still and silent for a moment. “It’s your home. You should sleep in your own bed.”

“You just said you’d like to sleep in it.”

“With you, I meant,” Jack pressed, sounding a little confused.

Ianto pressed his lips together but didn’t turn around, instead taking off his suit jacket and draping it carefully over the back of a chair. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“You agreed to go on a date…” Jack said hesitatingly.

“Yes, I did,” Ianto replied frostily, not giving in to what Jack wanted even though he knew full well what it was. He glanced over his shoulder, eyes narrowed slightly as he removed his tie. “Just because I agreed to go on a date with you does not mean I’m just going to fall into bed with you.”

“Is this about John? Really, Ianto, there’s nothing for you to – ” Jack started to say, clearly not getting why Ianto was acting stiff towards him judging by his puzzled expression.

Ianto whirled around, finally snapping as he threw his tie down onto the floor. “No, Jack, this is not about John! This is about you leaving with the Doctor and not telling anyone about it! We saw the CCTV of the Plass, we saw the TARDIS, and we saw you running towards it before it disappeared along with you! I worked for Torchwood One; do you think I don’t know what that meant?”

“I said I was sorry,” Jack pressed. “And I am. I really am.”

“That doesn’t make it okay, Jack,” Ianto replied tightly. He leaned down to snatch up his tie. “That doesn’t make the fact that you _did_ leave, and with the _Doctor_ no less, go away.”

“Ianto, I told you before, the Doctor isn’t as bad as Torchwood One made him out to be. He’s a good person, he protects the Earth, he – ”

“I know that,” Ianto cut him off. “You told me before and I believe you.”

“Then what are you so upset about?” Jack asked, and Ianto could hear the slight desperation in his tone, asking silently _What do I have to do to make this better?_

“I know you traveled with him, Jack. You had a file at Torchwood One mentioning it. If you were just waiting around until he came to get you, you might have told us so we’d be prepared. The first few weeks after you left, everything was a mess. Gwen wasn’t sure what she was doing, Owen kept on trying to take control…”

“I thought he could fix me, but he couldn’t so I came back. It looks like you guys did well on your own, anyway,” Jack told him, trying to sound as proud as he possibly could but failing.

“We had to,” Ianto repeated Gwen’s words from earlier.

“Is that the only reason you’re upset?” Jack questioned.

Ianto sidestepped that quickly, turning away and heading towards the bedroom. “I haven’t slept all night. I’m tired. I’m going to bed.”

“There’s something else, isn’t there. Ianto, talk to me. Tell me what’s wrong. I can’t read your mind.” Jack moved towards him, reaching out a hand to touch his arm lightly.

Ianto backed up, bumping against the wall as he glared at the other man. “It doesn’t matter.”

“Yes, it does!” Jack snapped, anger flaring for just a second before he took a deep breath to calm down. “Yes, it does,” he repeated firmly, placing his hands on the wall, trapping Ianto against it.

“Let me go, Jack,” Ianto said in a quiet tone, trembling slightly. From what, he didn’t know. He refused to let himself look at Jack’s mouth, so close to him now, focusing on glaring angrily into his eyes.

“Talk to me,” Jack insisted, staring right back intensely. He knew full well Ianto could easily get away from him if he wanted to. Ianto had a hell of a right hook and Jack had been on the receiving end of it before.

“Do you ever really think about something before you do it, Jack?” Ianto shouted, furious now. “I knew when we started fucking I shouldn’t expect anything like a _relationship_ out of it, but when you kissed me in front of everyone else, I thought that just maybe you actually _did_ want something.”

Something snapped in Jack’s mind as he finally understood why Ianto was so angry. He’d given Ianto a glimpse of hope only to snatch it away less than an hour later when he left with the Doctor. His anger slowly bled away as he looked at Ianto searchingly. “Do you love me?”

“FUCK you, Jack!” Ianto spat out, shoving him backwards as hard as he could.

Jack stumbled backwards, caught by surprise. He grabbed onto the couch, preventing himself from falling over, then stared at Ianto in shock.

Ianto was shaking in fury, fists clenched so tight his fingers were digging painfully into his palms. He hadn’t felt this angry for a long time – not since he had felt furious at himself for being helpless in his efforts to find some way to save Lisa.

As Jack watched him, the captain’s shocked face slowly changed into one of weariness. It made Ianto almost paused. “Ianto, sit down,” Jack requested, sounding defeated.

“No,” Ianto replied, refusing to budge.

“Ianto. Sit. Down.” He looked into Ianto’s eyes and Ianto could see the fight had left them. “Please,” he pleaded quietly.

Eyebrows furrowed, Ianto slowly made his way over to the couch and sat down stiffly, fists still clenched. Whatever Jack was going to say next, Ianto wouldn’t let it sway him.

“I love you.”

Ianto went absolutely still for a moment, unclenching his hands in astonishment before he threw his head back and laughed. “My god, Jack, you can’t expect me to – ”

“Just _listen_ to me, Ianto,” Jack said with such desperation that Ianto looked at him in slight concern and confusion. “Just hear me out, then you can hit me, punch me, throw me out, scream at me, do whatever you want, but first just listen to me. Please.”

Slowly, Ianto nodded, eyes never leaving Jack’s face.

“I’m from the 51st century, Ianto. I’m 170 years old. I lost my whole entire family before I was completely grown. They were taken from me and I became a Time Agent to get revenge. That’s where I met John. I was his partner for some time, until he told me that the Time Agency had taken two years of my memories. I left and became a conman because I was good at it and I had to find some way to survive. I couldn’t care less about who I slept with. I had so many partners I’ll never be able to count them all. I didn’t care about anyone but myself.” Jack paused, taking in a deep breath.

Ianto remained silent, watching him attentively but with narrowed eyes.

“Then I met the Doctor. I traveled with him for a while, him and someone named Rose. He showed me the universe, opened my eyes a little, helped me to see a different side of things. Then… something happened. I died, but then I was brought back to life somehow. When I woke up, the Doctor was gone. I found out later that he left me, that the power that had brought me back was what made me unable to die and he was… afraid of that, I guess. A fixed point in time, that’s what I am. He called me wrong,” Jack said, his throat tight. “I waited for so many years for him to come to the Rift, because that’s how he recharges the TARDIS, and when he did come…”

Ianto reached out a hand and rested it on Jack’s leg. He’d never seen Jack like this before, ever. He was starting to feel awful for lashing out at him, now that he was seeing Jack was _not_ alright. “You loved him,” Ianto said softly.

Jack gave a little laugh, smiling humorlessly as he grasped Ianto’s hand in both of his. “It’s hard to not love the Doctor once you’ve met him. But after that… He’s a great man but… he’s not as great as I thought he was.” He raised his eyes to look at Ianto intently once again. “I meant what I said, Ianto. I came back for the team and I came back for _you. You,_ Ianto.”

“I believe you,” Ianto replied, softly but firmly. “But Jack, what’s brought this all on…? You can’t really…”

“Love you?” Jack finished the sentence for him, voice growing a bit hard. “Why not?”

“Because you…” Ianto trailed off, trying to think of a reason as he looked away. “You’re Jack,” he said stupidly.

Jack laughed dryly. “Just because I’m not from this time doesn’t mean I’m incapable of being in love.”

“You flirt with anything that walks and you never seem to run out of stories to tell,” Ianto pointed out.

“Flirting’s just… a habit from my conman days. I did it to get close to people, to get them to trust me without them getting close to me. All the stories are mostly from my years before I met the Doctor. I’ll admit, I’ve had a lot of… partners over the years, but there’s only been a few I truly cared about it. And before you even think it, no, Ianto, I didn’t flirt with you to get close to you for some evil purpose. I genuinely was attracted to you.”

Ianto smiled for a second at that before he looked at Jack seriously. “But Jack… You can’t really… Why?” he finally asked, mystified. “Why are you telling me this now?”

Jack was silent for a moment, staring at his shoes. “I saw you die.”

Ianto blinked in confusion. “What?”

“When I was gone, something happened. A year happened. Well, not anymore. It got erased; time was set back. I was held captive by Harold Saxon, and killed over and over again because he found it amusing. When he got bored with that, he rounded you all up.” Jack’s voice started to sound very hollow. “He sent you on a trip to the Himalayas to get you out of the way while he took over. On your way back, he had you brought to his aircraft carrier, the Valiant. He killed you all in front of me, as slowly and as painfully as possible.” Jack closed his eyes for a moment, shuddering. “And, well, you know what they say. You don’t know how much something means to you until you lose it. I watched my family die.”

“Jack,” Ianto said, too speechless to say or do anything else besides tighten his hold on Jack’s hand.

“So don’t you _dare_ tell me that I don’t love you,” Jack said with sudden conviction, finally looking up at him. “I loved Estelle. I loved a few other people before that but I either lost them or left them. But I won’t leave you. I can’t.”

“What on Earth do you mean by that?”

Jack sighed. “With the others… the few I loved, really loved… most of them didn’t know – about me, about Torchwood, and I wanted to protect them from it. I didn’t want them to see me stay the same age while they grew older because then I’d have to tell them why. I’d have to tell them the truth and I didn’t want to pull them into that world. I didn’t want them to lose their innocence. If I had to, I could get away from any one of them by just disappearing. They’d never be able to find me. As for the ones in Torchwood…” Jack gave a small smile. “I didn’t really become an official agent of Torchwood until the year 2000 so I wasn’t around much. I was a freelance agent – I didn’t really want to get involved with anyone in Torchwood. Didn’t like it much back then, didn’t like the way it was run. I didn’t get really close to anyone like I have now because I wasn’t around enough to get that close. The few I did care about, I lost because they all died sooner or later.”

He glanced up at Ianto for a moment then looked back at the floor. “You’re already a part of Torchwood. I don’t have to protect you from it. And… I’m sort of glad about that. For once, I don’t have to hide anything. I can share it instead.” He gave a small smile. “I can’t leave you. The others, they were upset and sad but they didn’t know the truth. If I left again without a word, you would know that I left _you_. But I promise, Ianto, from now on if I do ever have to leave, I swear I will tell you before I do, and I swear that I will always come back. I feel like… like I can belong here,” Jack admitted softly, looking the most vulnerable Ianto had ever seen him, like a young orphan lost without a place or family to call their own.

His heart lodged in his throat and his eyes grew damp as he pulled Jack against him in a tight hug. “You do,” he said firmly, throat tight. “I’m the same way, the exact same way. Torchwood is all I have left. My family is gone but while you were away, I learned Torchwood is as good as my family too. We’re a team now and that includes you, Jack. We’d follow you anywhere you asked without hesitation. You’re our leader. I’m sorry I didn’t see how much you were hurting before; I was so angry.”

“I forgive you if you forgive me,” Jack replied, a tiny bit of humor returning to his tone as he hugged Ianto back just as tight. “Do you believe me now when I say that I love you?”

“Of course I do,” Ianto said in reply to both, leaning back and taking Jack’s face into his hands so he could kiss him slowly and deeply.

Jack brought his hands up to cover Ianto’s, returning the kiss with passion.

“Of course I do,” he repeated, softer this time. “Come. Let’s go to bed.” Ianto got to his feet and pulled Jack up with him. “Just one more thing.”

“Hmm?” Jack asked, stepping forward so he could wrap his arms around his lover and hold him close.

“You were right,” he admitted, resting his head on Jack’s shoulder and closing his eyes, soaking in the not often felt emotion of being safe and loved in someone’s embrace.

“About what?”

“I love you,” Ianto murmured into his ear. He felt Jack’s arms tighten around him for a moment, then Jack pulled away a little to be able to kiss him. However, Ianto held up his hand and pressed the tips of his fingers against Jack’s lips, raising an eyebrow. “This doesn’t mean I’m letting you get out of that date, you know.”

Jack grinned and chuckled slightly. “Ianto Jones, I promise I will take you on a proper date… hopefully sooner rather than later.”

“I can deal with that promise,” Ianto replied, once again taking Jack’s face into his hands and kissing him, although this time it was a hard one.

Jack slid a hand up to cup the back of Ianto’s head, responding with as much fervor as Ianto gave.

They stayed there for awhile, letting their emotions rise from a content born from realizing that the one you loved shared your feelings to a fiery need of love and lust for each other.

The two made their way up to Ianto’s bedroom, shedding the rest of their clothing as they went. Jack was always gentle, making sure he never did anything that might hurt Ianto but for the first time, Jack took things slow in order to make it last. Ianto truly felt like they were no longer just friends with benefits. He knew Jack would always be his leader when he was working in Torchwood, but in his private life he finally felt like they were on equal footing. It was so much more than just two lonely people needing the intimate touch of another person now. Ianto knew he wasn’t alone anymore because he had his friends and colleagues at Torchwood. Now Jack was back and he had him too.

The pair stayed awake well into the night, letting themselves be consumed in emotions they hadn’t felt for a long time. Jack slowly made love to Ianto while Ianto clung to him tightly, eyes closed and head thrown back, breathing in soft gasps. They fell asleep after they were both thoroughly satisfied.

When Ianto’s alarm woke him up his arm was numb because Jack had fallen asleep on it. However, when Ianto saw that Jack’s head was resting on his chest right above his heart, he smiled softly and decided to not give him much grief about it. Jack wasn’t a heavy sleeper, so the noise caused him to stir.

As Ianto hit the button with his free arm to stop the ringing, Jack looked up at him with a sleepy smile. “Good morning?”

Ianto smiled back, leaning down to kiss the top of his head. “Good morning. Why don’t you take a shower first while I make breakfast and coffee?”

“One, why don’t we just take a shower together? And two, you call that a good morning kiss? Really, Ianto, I know you can do better then that,” Jack teased.

Ianto rolled his eyes. “Because we both know it would be a very long shower and if I make coffee first, you’ll be sure to take a fast one so you can have a cup while it’s still hot.” As he spoke, he slipped one hand under Jack’s chin to tilt his head up and kiss him slowly. “There. Better?”

“Much,” Jack consented with a grin.

“Good. Now please get off my arm; I can’t feel it.”

Jack laughed and sat up then slipped out of the bed. He raised his arms above his head, stretching and yawning as he made his way to the shower. Ianto didn’t bother keeping his gaze off the back of Jack’s body as he left the room.

He picked out some pajama bottoms to wear until Jack was done with the shower then quickly stripped the sheets off the bed in order to wash them, dumping them in a laundry basket when he was done. After that, he made his way into the kitchen and pulled out some eggs to start making omelettes, thinking about what they had talked about the night before.

Jack was right, Ianto wasn’t innocent. He honestly wasn’t sure if he had picked up the shattered pieces of himself and put them all back together yet. After last night, Jack clearly wasn’t okay at the present, but Ianto believed that, together, they would be.

*********************************************************

The team walked into the lobby of the hotel. Jack instructed Tosh to scout the area, looking for anyone suspicious while he, Owen, and Gwen made their way to the floor Seren said she was on. His Webley was loaded just in case it was a trap. Ianto had never mentioned a second cousin. He’d told Jack he didn’t have any family left, so Jack was wary. “Stay here,” Jack ordered Gwen and Owen when they neared the room. “If I don’t come out in 10 minutes, come in after me.” He continued on down the hallway, eyeing the room numbers on the doors until he came to the right one then knocked.

The handle turned and the door was slowly pulled open to reveal a young woman who was clearly in the middle of a pregnancy. Her eyes were red, like she’d been crying.

“Seren?” he questioned. So far, things looked genuine.

“You must be Jack,” Seren replied with a smile, opening the door wider. “Please come in. This is my husband, Aaron.” She indicated to the man standing in the room, who nodded in greeting.

Jack walked in, holding out a hand to shake first Seren’s then Aaron’s in greeting. “Captain Jack Harkness. Ianto’s a good friend of mine. He’s never mentioned you before, though. How close were you two?” Jack asked, getting straight to business.

“My father and his mother were cousins. I’ve never seen him before in real life; only through pictures his father used to send us before he died. The last one I have of him is when he was seventeen,” Seren answered, moving to sit down on the bed.

That heightened Jack’s doubt that Ianto was dead. He firmly believed that Ianto was still alive. He’d know if he died. He’d _know_. He was sure of that.

Seren gave a sad smile, putting a hand over her swollen belly. “I’d hoped to get to meet Ianto one day, but after his father died, he never contacted us… I don’t know if he knew where we lived or if he didn’t want anything to do with us… but anyway, after a few years, I decided to write him a letter. He never replied.”

“Do you remember what year it was that you wrote this letter?”

Seren nodded. “It was 2006.”

“Ianto was living in London at that time. He was renting his house out; he probably never even got it. The Ianto I know would want to see you very much if he knew he had a second cousin,” Jack said reassuringly. “He’d never push away any family since he doesn’t really have anyone else anymore.”

Seren nodded in agreement. “I feel the same way. That’s why I’m so sad… Aaron’s all I’ve got left and I wish I had the chance to get to know Ianto before he… But now he’s gone and I don’t have that chance anymore.” As she spoke, Jack could hear her voice tightening up, resisting the urge to start crying again. Aaron frowned, going over and sitting down next to his wife, reaching his arms around her to hold her comfortingly.

“Seren, trust me on this,” Jack pressed insistently. “Ianto is _not_ dead; I’m positive of that. I’m an investigator,” he half-lied. “I’m going to do everything I can to try and find him, and when I do, I’m going to tell him about you and bring him to meet you. I know he’d love that.”

The woman watched him silently for a moment, searching his face. “You really do think he’s alive, don’t you?” she asked quietly.

“I do.”

“Maybe… maybe I mistook him for someone else… You know him better than I do,” Seren acknowledged.

“Did you see the body at the hospital? I’ll go there and confirm whether it’s him or not.”

Seren nodded. “Yes, it was at the hospital. I’ll give you my mobile number; give me a call when you find out?”

“I promise I’ll call and tell you it’s not Ianto, and when I do, I’ll be telling the truth,” Jack said firmly. “Do you know the name of the doctor who showed you the body?” he asked as an afterthought.

“His name was Dr. Johnson.”

“Alright. Thanks for meeting; you’ve been a great help.” He got Seren’s number, said goodbye to the couple, then left, making his way back to his team.

Gwen approached Jack, looking relieved to see him in one piece. “Did you find anything?”

“Yeah. Someone wants us to think Ianto is dead. Come on, we’re going to the hospital,” Jack said without breaking his pace.

*********************************************************

“Jack, you said we had dinner reservations,” Ianto pressed, hands in his pockets as he watched Jack fiddled with the Lucky Grab machine. It certainly was an odd sight, seeing the dashing alien-catching captain wrestling with the handle, trying to manipulate the claw to drop onto a stuffed dragon.

“Just a minute,” Jack said in an off-hand way, concentrating on the task at hand.

Ianto sighed and rolled his eyes. “You promised you’d take me on a date.”

“I am taking you on a date!” Jack protested, sticking his tongue out between his lips as he jammed more coins into the machine. “I just want to get this dragon first.”

“Why don’t we just stop by here after we’ve eaten?” Ianto suggested, starting to get a little fed up with how long Jack was taking… and how much money he was wasting. He’d used up about five pounds already just trying to get the stuffed animal.

“It might be gone then. I want to get it now.”

“You’re going to carry a stuffed dragon into a nice restaurant with you,” Ianto replied skeptically. There was no place else to put it since they’d walked. The restaurant they were going to wasn’t too far from Ianto’s home and it was a nice night.

“Well, I can’t leave it outside. Someone might take it.”

“Remind me again why you want this particular dragon.”

“Because it actually looks like a real one!” Jack insisted. “It’s green and the proportions look about right. Maybe I can use it to scare Gwen or Tosh. Plus it’s just cool.”

“Of course, because a stuffed animal is going to terrify them to death,” Ianto commented dryly, glancing at his watch. “Jack. Our dinner reservation is in seven minutes.”

“I know, I know, I promise, I’ve almost got it!”

“Oh, just move over,” Ianto finally snapped, using his body to push Jack away. Honestly, Jack could be such a _child_ sometimes. He grasped the handle of the machine, watching carefully.

“Hey, I can-” Jack started to protest but Ianto cut him off with a sharp shushing sound.

Ianto manipulated the claw above the dragon and after he was sure he had it about right, he hit the button to drop it. The metallic device clenched around the green animal Jack wanted, lifted it up, carried it over, then deposited it down. Ianto reached in and grasped the dragon then pushed it into Jack’s arms. “There. May we please leave now?”

Jack stared at Ianto open mouthed, forgetting about the dragon that was clutched to his chest for a moment. “How did you do that?” he demanded.

“Dinner,” Ianto insisted, turning around and walking off without another word.

“No, really, how did you do that?!” Jack pressed as he hurried to follow him.

Ianto smirked slightly but didn’t answer, finally on the way to their first official date.

*********************************************************

Ianto smiled in his cell, remembering how later Jack had tried to give the dragon to Ianto, saying that since he was the one who had gotten it from the machine, he should keep it. After Ianto insisted he didn’t want Jack’s ridiculous dragon, Jack decided to name it Fang.

Fang’s current residence was on the top of Ianto’s refrigerator in his home. Ianto knew Jack had put the dragon there on purpose just to annoy him and Ianto retaliated by leaving the dragon there. He remembered teasing Jack at a later date that he sometimes wondered if he saw Fang more than he did Jack.

The door to his cell opened with a clang and Ben strode in, eyes blazing. Ianto lifted his head up to look at him, only to be promptly backhanded across the face. His head jerked to the side and his cheek stung sharply but he didn’t turn to look at Ben again.

“Dylan found your little message you sent out,” Ben spat, furious. “You’ve ruined everything. I almost feel like killing you right now.” He reigned himself in a little, taking a deep breath. “But you can still prove to be useful. If you don’t know where it is, surely Jack does. He’s been there longer than you. We’ll just use you as bait.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a Swiss army knife, flipping the blade up. “But first we need a little proof to go along with our own message.”

Ianto looked at the knife warily out of the corner of his eye, then held his breath as Ben moved forward, steeling himself for whatever was coming next.

*********************************************************

“I’m Dr. Alistair Johnson,” the man said as he shook Jack’s hand. “How may I help you?”

Jack held up his Torchwood ID. “Captain Jack Harkness of Torchwood. We need to see the body you showed to Seren Walker. It should be listed as Ianto Jones.”

For whatever reason, a flash of irritation crossed the doctor’s face, but he put on a forced smile. “Of course. I’ll see what I can do. Please wait here.”

“No,” Jack said simply. “I’m coming with you.”

“Very well,” Dr. Johnson said through slightly gritted teeth, not looking too happy to be helping them at all. He made his way through the hospital as Jack followed, Gwen and Owen coming along while Tosh searched through records for a Dr. Alistair Johnson.

Once they arrived at the morgue, Jack turned to the two. “Stay here,” he ordered, then followed the doctor inside.

Dr. Johnson walked over to a drawer and grasped the handle, pulling it open. “Here we… are,” the man replied, looking down at empty space.

“It’s empty,” Jack pointed out the obvious.

“It wasn’t earlier,” the doctor insisted, quickly going over to a desk and rummaging through some papers. “I swear that was the drawer the body was in.” He turned to the computer, clicking away on the keyboard until he pointed at the screen. “See here. Ianto Llewellyn Jones, number 12.”

“Well, he’s not there,” Jack said again, suspicion growing rapidly.

“I… I don’t know what’s happened, I swear.” Dr. Johnson ran a hand through his hair in frustration and anxiety. “I’ll go talk to others, see what’s happened. It must have been sent off for autopsy...”

“Let’s go check it out then,” Jack insisted firmly.

“Mister Harkness, I have a job to do,” the doctor replied, getting an irritated tone. “I’ll do what I can to find the body but I have other more pressing matters to attend to at the moment. I’m sure you understand.”

“Oh that’s fine,” Jack said in a false cheery tone. “Don’t mind if I go check out the autopsy rooms myself if you’re so busy, do you?”

“Be my guest,” Dr. Johnson informed him. “Now good day.” With that, he turned and walked off.

Jack stalked out of the room then headed towards the autopsy labs. Gwen and Owen quickly fell into step next to him.

“Did you find anything?” Gwen pressed.

“There’s no body there now but supposedly there was. The doctor said it might have been sent off for autopsy so I’m going to take a look,” Jack explained. “Check all the labs.”

It didn’t take long to do with the three of them splitting up; however, none of them found a body listed under the name of Ianto Llewellyn Jones.

“So there isn’t a body. It’s conveniently missing,” Jack said, even more convinced that something was going on.

“But you told us Seren saw one,” Gwen said worriedly.

“Don’t you for one second believe he’s dead,” Jack ordered, casting a quick glare at first her, then at Owen. “Don’t believe anything until we have concrete proof. Someone wants us to _think_ he’s dead, but he’s _not_. I’m positive.” He clicked his earpiece, patching him through to Toshiko. “Tosh, talk to me.”

“He checks out,” Toshiko informed him over the connection. “And I looked up accident records for the past two days. There was one that matches what Seren and the doctor told you. It’s Ianto’s car, the same license plate. It went off the road.”

“Someone’s set this up. I can’t think of any reason why Ianto would leave the city without telling me,” Jack insisted.

“Yeah, but Jack, the doctor checks out,” Owen argued. “What if Ianto’s really…”

“He’s _not_ ,” Jack snapped, pushing the front doors of the hospital open as he marched back to the SUV. “I’m telling you, he’s not.”

*********************************************************

Ianto felt drowsy and fatigued and his mind wasn’t as clear as it usually was. His wounds were probably also contributors to those facts. Ianto wasn’t hurt fatally, at least he hoped so, but Ben had been thorough in his torturing. The other man had probably picked up a thing or two from Faith.

Now that he knew, though, that Jack had hopefully gotten his message, he was slightly worried. It was four against four and the odds looked to be in Torchwood’s favor because Ianto doubted Dylan knew how to manage a gun well… but Faith was a sharpshooter. She could easily take out one of his friends without them ever knowing she was there. Plus they had him as a hostage.

There were lots of things Ianto didn’t like but there were two things he despised: being useless and being used against his teammates. Tied up like he was, there was nothing he could do to help them. Things had the chance to get very very bad. Closing his eyes, Ianto thought about the last time he kissed Jack…

*********************************************************

“Jack, I’m leaving,” Ianto said, leaning in the entryway to his office.

Jack was scowling at some papers on his desk, but looked up when Ianto spoke. “I’ll walk you out.” He rose to his feet, grasping his coat and slipping it on.

Ianto raised an eyebrow. “You just want an excuse to get away from that paperwork.”

Jack gave him a heart warming grin. “Yeah. But I need to get them done,” he said in an apologetic way.

Ianto rolled his eyes. “We don’t need to sleep together every single night, you know.”

“No, but I like to.” From the way he said it, Ianto knew that included just curling up in bed and actually getting some real sleep together.

He smiled back softly. “I do too. Unfortunately, the job comes before personal life.”

“Maybe tomorrow,” Jack commented, heading towards the exit.

“Perhaps,” Ianto replied lightly, following him.

Before they got to the exit, Jack stopped and paused for a moment before grasping Ianto’s arm gently and guiding him over to the invisible lift.

“What are you doing?” Ianto asked as Jack pulled him onto the slab with a grin.

“Giving us some time.” Jack hit a few buttons on his wrist strap and as the lift starting rising up, he pulled Ianto close and kissed him firmly on the mouth.

Ianto inhaled sharply in surprise, then leaned into the kiss, bringing his hands up to grasp onto Jack’s forearms, half to hold onto him and half to keep his balance as the lift brought them to the surface.

By the time they were in the Plass standing in front of the fountain, Ianto was half hard, his breath coming quicker. “You’re making it really hard to walk away, you know,” he murmured a little throatily.

“Well, I could always-” Jack started to say cheekily, reaching a hand between Ianto’s legs, but Ianto grasped his wrist firmly and shook his head.

“No.”

“No?” Jack said with a little pout.

“No. This is _more_ than enough publicity for me and no one can even see us.” He let go of his wrist to place his hands lightly on Jack’s neck, giving him one last kiss. “I’ll see you in the morning. Now go back and finish those papers,” he ordered with a smile.

Jack gave an exaggerated sigh. “Alright, but only because you told me to.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Jack.”

But he hadn’t seen him the next day, Ianto thought to himself as he came out of the memory back to his cold cell. He was fairly certain at least a few days had already passed, even though he wasn’t quite sure how long it had been. There were no windows in his cell and the others came at random intervals so he had no way of knowing.

The lock drew back and the door opened. Alistair walked in, holding up a syringe. Ianto eyed it with distrust and distaste. He tried to struggle as Alistair approached but knew it was useless. He was tied up too tight.

“Oh don’t give me that look,” Alistair scoffed, taking out a knife and ripping the sleeve of Ianto’s suit jacket open so he could get to the skin beneath. “Ben said you looked like shit so I’m giving you something to dull the pain a bit.”

“You expect me to believe you’re being sympathetic?” Ianto muttered skeptically, wincing as Alistair pushed the needle into his arm.

“I’m a doctor,” the other man said as if it explained everything.

“Forgive me if I think you’re full of shit,” Ianto replied as Alistair drew the needle out. “When Jack finds me – ”

“Oh don’t start with the stupid little ‘my love will rescue me, sweep me off my feet, and carry me off into the sunset’ crap,” Alistair snapped, losing any warmth to his tone. “They aren’t coming for you, not here. Trust me. We’re making sure of that.”

*********************************************************

They’d been working for hours, going over CCTV videos, calling the hospital and the morgue to see if the body had turned up yet, trying to piece together any clue that might help them in finding their missing teammate.

Jack was getting more frustrated as time went by. The others could see that there was no stopping him until he found Ianto and no amount of suggesting that perhaps Ianto was really dead would change his mind.

He was watching a CCTV video of when Ianto left the Hub yesterday, looking for anything that stood out, when his mobile phone gave a beep. Pausing the video, he picked it up and flipped it open. There was one text message from a number he didn’t know. Unsure of what it was, he pressed a button that would bring it up.

The message read: _white t1 ij_.

Jack only stared at it for a second before he was rushing over to Toshiko’s station, his heart beating rapidly in his chest as hope flooded through him. _ij_. Ianto Jones.

“Tosh!” he said, thrusting the phone out in front of her. “Trace where this was sent from, now!” Owen and Gwen looked up from their stations, wondering what Jack was making such a fuss about.

“What is it?” Tosh asked quickly, her fingers already flying across the keyboard as she glanced at the message.

“It’s from Ianto,” Jack told her, not holding back the pride in his tone. It wasn’t a lot, but it would be enough to let them know where Ianto was. He must have known that. Jack allowed himself a small grin. That was their Ianto, always a quick thinker.

“Got it!” Tosh cried out. “It’s coming from an old warehouse near the outskirts of town.”

Jack clapped a hand onto her shoulder and gave it an encouraging squeeze. “We’re going there.” He glanced down at the mobile once again, studying the message.

Gwen crowded close, looking over his shoulder at it. “What does that mean?”

“T1… Torchwood One,” Jack thought out loud. “Tosh, bring up a personnel list for Torchwood London and see if there’s anyone with the last name of White,” he instructed, watching as she worked.

Tosh moved quickly, knowing that Ianto’s life might be in the balance. “Yes, Benjamin White. He’s a survivor. Girlfriend Faith Crewe… He worked in the Archives.” She input a few commands and soon had a list of all the survivors, Ianto’s name included. “She’s still alive as well. Wait a minute….” She trailed off, seeing a familiar name on the screen. “Jack.” Her voice was alarmed.

“Dr. Alistair Johnson,” Jack read grimly. “He’s with them. He lied about the body. They must have found someone who looked a lot like Ianto, killed him, and used the body to trick Seren in an attempt to convince us.”

“Then when we show up, they’ve already gotten rid of it. But what about the hospital records?” Gwen asked.

“They most likely actually thought the body was Ianto. Dr. Johnson probably said he did all the tests and the autopsy when in reality, he made them up. Jesus, they’d have to have planned this for some time. Why would they want the tea boy so much?” Owen questioned.

“That’s what we’re going to find out,” Jack answered. He couldn’t help adding, “I told you Ianto was still alive.”

“Yeah, if they haven’t already killed him,” Owen pointed out, “so we should really get going as soon as possible.”

Jack nodded in agreement, a determined fire in his eyes. “Let’s get Ianto back.”

*********************************************************

Ianto jerked awake with a sharp gasp, then gave a low moan. He’d fallen asleep in his chair and a chair was not the most comfortable place to take a nap, especially if the back of it didn’t even go up to your shoulders. The pain in his neck proved that.

Slightly disoriented, Ianto peered around the room. Something was different… There didn’t seem to be at first but with Ianto’s keen eye for details and memory, he knew something was wrong.

It took him a few minutes to realize it. The walls were different, just barely, but they _were_ different. They’d moved him to a different room. But why?

Ianto chuckled dryly, remembering when Alistair had come in earlier. “Dull the pain, my arse,” he muttered. Alistair’d given him the drug to knock him out, so he wouldn’t struggle while they moved him.

He was getting so very tired of all this. He wanted to go home. He wondered where Jack was and if he was any closer to rescuing him. Ianto prayed Jack had gotten his text message. What if Jack had his mobile on silent? What if the battery was dead? What if he didn’t have it on him?

No, Ianto thought firmly, pushing his doubts aside. Jack always had his phone working and on him. He also never had his phone on silent, even at night. Ianto learned that when the shrill ringing of Jack’s mobile had interrupted a session in bed more than once. He smirked a little, recalling the first time it happened. He’d retaliated by taking care of himself because Jack _actually_ answered the phone. “It could be important,” he heard Jack’s voice repeat in his mind. Well, he was important too and had been very cranky at being _left_ there. Of course, Jack more than made up for it afterwards, three times in fact.

Ianto gave a long, weary sigh and thought back to how this whole mess had started, right after he’d kissed Jack for the last time…

*********************************************************

Ianto was not accustomed to seeing people sitting on his doorstep at one in the morning. He did a double take, one hand in his pocket to pull out his keys. Who would be waiting for him at such an early hour? He could see it wasn’t Jack or one of his friends because the person had blond hair.

The person looked up at him with a wary face, matching Ianto’s expression, but visibly brightened when he saw who it was. “Ianto fucking Jones!” the man exclaimed, getting to his feet with a large grin. “You are a damn hard man to find, did you know that?” He walked forward with purpose and seized Ianto in a hug.

Ianto was a bit stunned for a moment, awkwardly returning the friendly embrace. “Benjamin White?”

Ben pulled back, resting his hands on his shoulders as he kept on smiling broadly. “God, it’s good to see you again. You were on the list of survivors but we could never get a hold of you. Finally did some tracking and found out you were here. Come on, the others are waiting at the hotel! We’ve saved some wine for you!”

“Others?” Ianto asked, bewildered.

“Yeah, Alistair and Faith are with me. Come on, say you’ll come! One drink, that’s all, just to catch up on old times,” Ben tried to persuade him.

“I have to work in the morning…” Ianto trailed off. “But I suppose I can spare an hour,” he added, a small grin growing. Truth be told, he was pleasantly surprised to see his old colleague.

“That’s the spirit!” Ben said, smacking him on the back emphatically. “Come on, let’s walk.”

As Ianto let Ben lead him, Ben mostly did the talking and Ianto most of the listening. He wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to tell one of the survivors at Torchwood One that he was now working for another Torchwood…

“Everything’s so different now, you know?” Ben said, his tone growing a bit melancholy. “You appreciate life more. We were lucky bastards, weren’t we? No one else understands. We’re all we’ve got, really. Figured we needed to stick together, help each other bear it.” He gave a visible shudder. “Don’t know if I would have been able to go on by myself. Don’t know how the hell you managed to be on your own for so long,” he commented on Ianto, a hint of pride creeping into his tone. “I know you lost Lisa. I’m really sorry about that, mate.”

“Yes,” Ianto replied simply. “I… found a reason to go on.” There was quite a long list of reasons, among them being his caring for Lisa and his attraction to Jack.

“Jack Harkness, right?”

The words made Ianto almost stop short but he kept his face neutral and continued walking next to Ben. “Jack Harkness? There was a file on him, wasn’t there? Worked at the Cardiff branch.”

“And you’re fucking him.” Ben’s tone held no warmth.

Ianto stopped, watching Ben warily. He got the sinking feeling that things were about to go bad very soon.

“I know you work for Torchwood Three, Ianto,” Ben accused. “There’s no use denying it.”

Something clicked in Ianto’s mind. Faith was a sharpshooter, a sniper. It was her job to stay hidden in the shadows. “You’ve been watching me,” he realized, tensing up.

“I would say I’m sorry about all this but… I’m not.”

The next thing Ianto knew, he had a stun gun jabbed into his stomach. He was standing too close to Ben to have a chance at dodging out the way. The world quickly faded away into darkness and he was dimly aware of Ben catching him before he blacked out completely.

After that, Ianto had woken up in the cell they’d just moved him from. Ben had told him what it was that he wanted but Ianto’d honestly never seen it before in his life. He _knew_ the archives and he was _positive_ it was not in there. He had no idea where it was and no matter how much he tried to convince Ben of that, Ben didn’t believe him.

Ianto hoped Jack would be able to find him now that he’d been moved…

He heard the lock being pulled back and raised his head up to see who it was. The door swung open.

*********************************************************

“Gwen, with me. Tosh and Owen, go around to the back,” Jack ordered, parking the SUV out of sight. “Try not to let anyone see you until we get inside. If you run into anyone,- ”

“Question them about Ianto with a gun to their head, yeah, we know,” Owen cut him off, climbing out. “Let’s go, Tosh.”

The two teams slowly made their way to the two entrances. So far, they hadn’t run into anyone.

Jack stood with his back pressed against the door and his gun drawn. He listened for any activity on the other side, then nodded at Gwen when he didn’t hear any. As she reached over and pulled the door open, Jack turned and pointed his gun inside, looking for any signs of life. Nothing. “Clear.” He entered but kept his guard up.

“Jack.” Tosh’s voice came through his earpiece. “There’s nothing on this end. The signal is stationary; it’s closer to you and Gwen.” She directed him to it in a quiet voice as they made their way cautiously through the warehouse.

“There doesn’t seem to be anyone here,” Gwen noted. The place looked like it had been deserted for quite a while.

They came to what looked like a row of storage rooms. “Start looking. He might be in one of these,” Jack told Gwen. They’d only cautiously opened two when Tosh and Owen showed up.

“The signal’s coming from down here,” Tosh said, looking at her PDA while she walked. She stopped in front of door three down from the second one Jack and Gwen had looked in. “Here. There’s been a lock attached to this one,” she said excitedly.

The others hurried down as Tosh undid the bolt and pulled the door open.

“Ianto?” Jack asked frantically as he stepped into the room. There was a lone chair in the center of it… but Ianto wasn’t sitting there. Instead there was a mobile phone and a tape recorder. Jack swore loudly, holding back the urge to punch something. He had no doubt Ianto had been here but now he was gone.

Warily, he approached the tape recorder and pushed play. The sound that came through it made his skin go pale, his blood run cold, and his hands tighten helplessly into fists at his sides.

Tosh inhaled sharply behind him and he heard Gwen say, “Oh god…”

Screams of pain that no doubt belonged to Ianto echoed off the walls of the all but barren room. The agonizing sounds continued on for a good thirty seconds before they were abruptly cut off by a door slamming shut. Then a male voice spoke.

“Captain Jack Harkness. I’m sure you’ll find this thanks to that little stunt Ianto pulled earlier. You probably know who I am by now. My name is Ben White. You have proof that I have Ianto and in order to get him back, you’ll have to trade with what I want. Let me tell you a story. I was recruited to Torchwood in the mid 1990’s and I made a friend there named William Baines.”

“Will Baines?” Jack murmured, recognizing the name. Will had worked for Torchwood Cardiff.

“He was transferred to the Cardiff branch after about a year but we kept in touch. We’d known each other for about five years when he told me a secret. He found something that had come through the Rift. It was a vial filled with some red liquid. He’d drunk some of it and told me that ever since he’d done so, things…. happened to him. He healed faster. He was positive he hadn’t aged physically at all. His nails never grew, his hair never grew… He still had the vial and told me the next time I came to Cardiff, he would give me some. Unluckily for him, he was beheaded on a mission shortly after that.”

Jack remembered. He’d been along on that particular mission; it hadn’t been pretty. It’d been just before New Year’s Eve, 1999.

“Still, I couldn’t forget about what he told me. I tried to think of a way to get into Torchwood Cardiff in order to find it, even put in a request for transfer form, but… well. You didn’t seem to want anything to do with Torchwood London, now that you were the only one left there. Time went by and I kept on trying to think of a way to get that vial. You know what happened next. Torchwood London was shut down and frankly, I didn’t care anymore. I just wanted to kill some alien bastards. Faith and Alistair shared my thoughts, so we decided to remove London of the trash that showed up there. I decided to take Dylan on a little holiday trip to Cardiff after we found him while Faith and Alistair stayed behind. Imagine my surprise when I saw Ianto fucking Jones, waltzing around Cardiff with a bastard like you, Captain. I knew he survived but didn’t know what’d come of him. Turns out he went to work for Torchwood Cardiff. Insane, I tell you, but finally I had a way to get what I wanted. With a memory like his, it wouldn’t be hard to locate.”

“What’s he talking about?” Gwen cut in, but Jack shushed her as he continued to listen intently to the tape.

“We set up a plan, figuring out a way to trick you into thinking he was dead, but now he’s gone and ruined that. He keeps on insisting that he doesn’t know where the vial is so we’re leaving the task up to you now, Captain. We have your number thanks to his little message. We’ll call you in a day. You’d better have the vial ready or else you’ll hear the sound of Ianto’s head exploding through the phone. I’ll tell you where to meet for the exchange and I suggest you don’t try anything. He’s already weak from blood loss. By the way, this tape will self-destruct in fifteen seconds… and no, that isn’t a joke.”

Jack swore again. He turned, grabbing onto Gwen and Owen’s arms and pushing them towards the door. “Run! RUN!” he ordered, doing the same to Tosh. The team bolted, running as fast as they could to escape the explosion. Jack really hoped the blast radius wouldn’t be too large.

When the bomb detonated, it rocked the ground and caused the team to stagger. Tosh started to fall but Owen reached out to quickly grab her before she hit the floor. He yanked her into a corridor perpendicular to the one they’d just come down and Jack grabbed Gwen, hauling her in the other direction. Debris and dust came hurtling down the hallway. When it began to settle, Jack called out, “Everyone okay?”

“We’re fine,” Owen answered, letting Tosh go and giving her a quick once-over just to make sure.

“Thanks,” she murmured, looking down at her feet.

Owen waved her off with a hand then headed over to Jack and Gwen. “So now what do we do?”

“We find that vial,” Jack said grimly. “We can’t risk them harming Ianto anymore. I don’t intend to give it to them, but we’ll need it so they don’t kill him before we can get him back.”

“Jack, what did they mean about Ianto having a good memory? The way he said it made it sound like he was implying something…” Gwen questioned.

“Ianto has an eidetic memory,” Jack explained as he set off back to the SUV, wasting no time.

“Sorry, what?” Owen asked as they all fell into step after him. “So he can remember everything he sees and hears?” he asked, clearly in disbelief.

Jack rolled his eyes. “No, he doesn’t remember everything he sees and hears, only what he commits to memory. He can’t just read a book once and be able to quote it back word for word. He has to read it at the very least a couple times before he could possibly even try to do so. A book he’s read 15 times? Yeah, he could quote that back to you word for word. He probably doesn’t know what he had for breakfast three weeks ago on Tuesday because he doesn’t care about that. A memory he really wants to remember though, he remembers in vivid detail. He could tell you exactly how he felt, what he smelled, what he tasted… every single sense almost as if it was happening right then and there.”

“Wow,” Gwen said in amazement. “I had no idea…”

“I didn’t know until he told me,” Jack consented. “He… wasn’t telling the truth on his file from Torchwood One. He knew the codes to go in and change it. He wasn’t a junior researcher; he was the assistant to the director of the archives. He didn’t want us to know about his memory. You said Ben worked in the archives,” Jack mused. “He probably knew about Ianto and believed that if the vial _was_ in the archives of Torchwood Three, Ianto would know about it. That’s why they captured him.”

“I can bring up the archive’s databank we made and see if it’s actually there,” Tosh told Jack as they neared the vehicle.

“Good,” Jack said. “The sooner we get it, the better.”

On the way back to the Hub, Tosh found a few things that might have been what they were looking for. When they returned, they did a quick search only to come up with nothing. Jack was positive Ianto had told him it was 100 percent updated a week before. It wasn’t in the archives. Jack thought if he had some alien liquid that allowed him to heal faster, he’d keep it to himself… so the team went off to see if they could find it in William Baines’ storage locker.

When they arrived, Rhys was waiting for them.

“What is he doing here?” Jack demanded, pointing at Rhys and looking at Gwen.

“He’s here to help,” Gwen said defiantly, staring right back at Jack. “The more people we have, the faster it will go.”

“You’re not the only one who’s upset by this,” Rhys put in as he approached them, defending his fiancée. Gwen had called him quite a lot over the past few days in various states of distress. Her friend was missing, maybe dead, and he’d do whatever he could to help her find him. He wanted her to be happy.

“Fine,” Jack snapped, turning around to open up the storage locker of William Baines’ life.

Rhys knew things were pretty bad if Jack just agreed to him helping. He didn’t push it. “So what are we looking for?”

“Anything that looks like it could hold some form of liquid. _Anything_. I want this thing found as soon as possible,” Jack ordered.

It took them a few hours of searching before Rhys suddenly called out, “Hey, this thing is glowing!”

The team raced over and Jack took the little opened vial Rhys had in his hands. Looking inside, he saw a red slime-like substance that was indeed glowing. Jack clapped Rhys on the shoulder, allowing himself a small grin. “Good job, Rhys.”

As Gwen pulled her fiancée close to give him a thank-you kiss, Jack said, “Now all we can do is wait.”

He sent Gwen home with Rhys, hoping that there wouldn’t be any more problems that day. Tosh and Owen eventually made their ways home, but Jack didn’t sleep. He paced restlessly, unable to stand still for long as he worried about Ianto. He craved a cup of coffee but he didn’t need the caffeine to keep him up, and he didn’t want to go near the coffee machine because one, he didn’t know how to work the damn thing, and two, it served as a painful reminder that Ianto was not there.

He was still pacing when Tosh came in, earlier than usual. She looked like she hadn’t slept a wink. “Anything about Ianto?” she asked.

Jack shook his head. He’d be turning his mobile over and over in his hand for hours now. “Nothing.”

Ben still hadn’t called after Gwen, and later Owen, arrived. It wasn’t until around noon that it rang.

Jack whipped it open and up to his ear as he motioned madly to Tosh. She saw him and quickly started to trace where the call was coming from. “Harkness,” Jack spoke warily into the phone.

“Do you have it?” Ben’s voice asked coolly.

“Yes. Let me talk to Ianto,” Jack demanded.

Ben gave an exasperated sigh. “Fine. I’ll let him say something.”

There was the sound of a gun going off and Jack heard Ianto scream. The scream turned into deep, gasping breaths of pain, letting him know Ianto was still alive… for now.

His hand tightened around the mobile until his knuckles turned white, face pale. Gwen, Owen, and Tosh stood outside his office looking in.

“When I get there,” Jack said in a slow, tightly controlled voice, “you are going to wish you never laid a _hand_ on him.”

Ben just laughed and told him the address. “Hurry up, Captain. I’ll keep him alive until you arrive… but he _is_ wounded. Not sure how long he’ll last.” He hung up.

Jack slammed the phone down hard on his desk and turned to the others. Tosh quickly read off the address she’d traced the call from. Jack nodded, grabbing his coat and heading towards the exit. “That’s what he said. Let’s go.”

*********************************************************

Jack had told them that if he wasn’t out in 30 minutes to come in after him. That had been 15 minutes ago. Gwen paced restlessly back and forth while Tosh scanned the area to make sure no electronic equipment was watching them while Owen kept a lookout.

Gwen was worried, not only about Ianto, but Jack too. Now that she knew Jack loved Ianto, if he lost him… She knew when she lost Rhys, the first thing she’d wanted was revenge as well as getting him back. Continuing to walk back and forth, she prayed Ianto was alright.

“You know, Gwen, wearing a line in the ground isn’t going to do you any good,” Owen snapped, getting irritated with her pacing. “Jack’ll be back after he- ” Owen suddenly broke off, staring at the top of a building nearby.

“What?” Gwen asked, turning around to see what he was looking at.

“Get down!” Owen yelled, diving and knocking her to the ground. A bullet whizzed above their heads and slammed into the SUV, causing a dent. “Go, go, go!” Owen ordered, hauling her up and giving her a push.

Gwen bolted, moving as fast as she could behind the bulletproof sides of the SUV. Owen dived after her as another bullet hit the vehicle. “Tosh, you alright?!” Gwen cried out.

Tosh had already frantically slammed the door shut while the others made their way around the SUV. She wasn’t a moment too soon as a bullet hit the glass, cracking but not shattering it.

“Get in!” Owen ordered, taking control of the situation as he clambered into the driver’s seat.

Gwen yanked open the back door and piled in next to Tosh, adrenaline rushing through her. “Owen, what are you going to do?!” she demanded.

“I’m getting one heat signature from the top of that building!” Tosh said, already having run an infrared scan.

“It’s a sniper.” Owen pointed out the obvious, throwing the SUV into gear and tearing off. “There’s no way we’ll be able to hit him with our guns from here.”

“Where are you going?!” Gwen demanded as Owen drove straight towards the building Jack had gone into.

“Ben said that there were only four of them! We’ll have more cover inside and hopefully Jack will have found Ianto!” Owen said, jerking the wheel to the side, causing the car to swerve and skid sideways close to the main door. “Go!” he shouted.

Gwen clambered outside, yanking her gun out and taking off the safety. Tosh hastily grabbed her PDA and followed her. Gwen made her way to the door and tried it. It wasn’t locked. Opening it slightly, she gave the inside a quick once-over to make sure there wasn’t anyone standing right there, then threw the door open and went inside. Owen took up the rear, his gun ready to fire as well.

“Tosh, can you tell where Jack is?” Gwen asked, eyeing her surroundings cautiously as she proceeded forward.

“Just give me a minute,” Tosh replied, looking at her PDA. She pushed a few controls, input a command, then said, “He’s to our right.”

“Alright. Let’s find Jack, get Ianto, and get the hell out of here.”

*********************************************************

“If I’m not out in 30 minutes, come in after me,” Jack told his team before he turned around and headed towards the building. The small vial of the red liquid was in his coat pocket. When he neared the door, it opened to reveal a man pointing a gun at him. “Ben White?” Jack asked, raising his hands up in the air.

“Jack Harkness,” Ben replied coolly, then jerked his head towards the door. “Inside.”

Jack went in and found Ben’s gun pressed against the back of his head. “Walk,” Ben ordered.

“Where’s Ianto?” Jack demanded, making his way deeper into the building.

“You’re in no position to be making demands, Captain. The vial. _Now_ ,” Ben snapped impatiently.

“Not until I see Ianto.”

“Have it your way.” Jack was barely aware of getting his brains blown out before he died.

When he came to, he was lying inside a cage with a padlock – nothing he could use his wrist strap to escape from. There was a young man sitting on a crate across from him, holding a gun in his lap. He stared at Jack in awe. “You really can’t die, can you?”

Jack groaned, holding a hand to the back of his head as it quickly healed up. “I guess you guys knew that already.” He dipped a hand into his pocket. The vial was gone. So was his Webley. Shit. “Who are you?” he questioned. “And why do you have a cage?” On closer inspection, he saw that the gun the man held was his own.

The young man was hesitant before he answered. “Dylan Yates. We use the cage to hold aliens in if we want to question one before we kill it.”

Jack studied him silently for a good while before he spoke again. “I’ve seen lots of people in my day and you don’t seem like you’re the kind of person who would kill someone.”

“They told me to guard you,” Dylan said firmly, avoiding that statement.

“Let me out and I’ll help you.” Jack kept his tone calm and patient even if he wanted to grab onto the bars and yell and scream at Dylan to let him go so he could get to Ianto. Now that they had what they wanted, Ianto was expendable. “Just let me out.”

Dylan quickly shook his head. “No way. I’m not stupid. You’ll just… choke me or kill me. You’re dangerous.”

“I just want to get to Ianto before they kill him,” Jack insisted, quickly losing his patient tone. “I’m not going to hurt you; I don’t have time for that.”

“Ben promised he wouldn’t hurt Ianto,” Dylan shot back. “They’re friends from a few years ago. He wouldn’t kill him.”

“Oh yeah? When’s the last time you saw Ianto? Because if that wasn’t him screaming in that message Ben so kindly left for us, then I don’t know who was. Trust me, I know what Ianto’s screams are like, good and bad,” Jack pressed, looking at Dylan intently. He could see the beginnings of doubt creeping into his face.

“I haven’t seen him since we moved him… They told me to keep away. No!” Dylan suddenly yelled. “Just shut up! You’re trying to trick me.” He pointed the gun at Jack, taking the safety off with a click. “It’s not going to work. Ben said you supposedly protect people from aliens. Where were you when my parents were murdered?” he said angrily. “My mum, my dad, and my eight-year-old little sister were all killed by an alien in London! I almost was too, but Ben and the others found me just in time and saved my life! Alistair took care of me until I was better!”

“You were in London. Our base is in Cardiff. Our job is to take care of the Rift. I’m sorry about your family, but it’s not my fault,” Jack told him firmly, getting to his feet and clutching the bars. “Look, kid, I really don’t have time for this. They are going to kill Ianto and if that happens, I am going to be very, _very_ angry. You don’t want to deal with me when I’m angry. So just do everyone a favor and open the damn lock!” he snapped.

“They don’t kill humans, only aliens!” Dylan insisted, keeping the gun pointed at him.

“Oh yeah? What about the person they killed to try and trick us into thinking it was Ianto? You can’t just pull a body like that from a morgue or hospital; you have to find someone who looks enough like him and murder him.”

“Body?” Dylan asked, shocked. “What body?”

Jack wanted to groan, resting his forehead against the bars for a moment. He couldn’t believe this. “Damnit, just let me out!”

“I’d do as he says,” a familiar, cold voice said from behind Dylan. Jack jerked his head up to see Gwen pointing her gun at the back of the young man’s head. “And while you’re at it, drop the gun,” she ordered.

Dylan instantly complied, holding his hands up and looking terrified.

“You alright, Jack?” she called out as Owen searched Dylan.

“Fine, just get me out of here so we can find Ianto!” he demanded.

“I don’t have the keys, Ben does!” Dylan told them, sounding scared. “Oh God, please don’t hurt me!”

Gwen’s features softened slightly but she didn’t lower her gun. “Sit,” she ordered, motioning with a hand towards the crate he’d been sitting on before. He obeyed.

“Ah! These should do,” Owen said cheerfully, finding a few crowbars leaning against another crate. “A little help, Tosh?” He picked up two, handing one to her after she set her PDA down.

It took the two of them awhile – too long in Jack’s opinion, but there wasn’t much else they could do – before they finally managed to pry the bars open enough for him to squeeze out.

Jack stooped down to snatch up his gun. “Thanks,” he said to his team. “Now let’s find Ianto.”

“What about him?” Owen gestured over to Dylan.

“He can show us where he is.”

“But I don’t know where he is!” Dylan protested.

“Then you’ll help us look until we do. Now move,” Jack ordered, holding his gun up and heading off.

They made their way through the building quietly, guns at the ready. Gwen kept a careful eye on Dylan.

They hadn’t gone very far when Jack raised his hand up, making a shushing sound. He thought he heard voices talking. Straining to hear, he could barely make out the sound of someone speaking. They had to be close by then. Jack took two steps forward then jumped when a gunshot rang out and Dylan let out a scream behind him. He whirled around, seeing Dylan fall.

Gwen tried to catch him before he hit the ground but he landed hard on his bottom, clutching his upper shoulder as it rapidly grew red.

Jack shifted to and fro, trying to see where the shot had come from but he couldn’t make anyone out in the dark and barely lit building. “Where’s the shooter?!” he yelled.

Three more shots rang out, except they came from closer to him as Owen fired in one direction. “I think I got him!” the doctor said.

“Take care of Dylan; I’ll go check,” Jack ordered. “Gwen, Tosh?”

“We’re fine,” Tosh replied, keeping her gun up and looking around for any others.

Jack hurried over in the direction Owen had fired. As he got closer, he could see a blood spatter against the wall. When he looked behind a crate, he saw where the person had fallen. He was a bit surprised to see it was a woman. “Faith Crewe,” he murmured, approaching her cautiously. She didn’t move. She had to be dead, what with two bullet holes in her head. Still, he checked her pulse to make sure then quickly made his way back to the others.

Owen was tending to Dylan’s wounded shoulder as he thrashed and cried out in pain. Gwen sat on his other side, looking worried.

“Tosh!” Jack called out.

Wordlessly, Tosh made her way over to him and Jack threw open the first door nearest to them. It was empty. Quickly moving down, he threw open the second and came face to face with Ianto… as well as one of his worst nightmares.

Ianto stared back at him with bloodshot eyes. He was tied securely to a chair and there was blood practically everywhere on him. He looked so very weak and exhausted.

He also had a gun pointed at his head.

Ben stood behind him, glaring at Jack challengingly, as if daring him to fire. “Hello, Captain. I see you got out,” he said without a millimeter of warmth in his tone. “Drop your gun, please.”

Jack’s gaze flickered between Ben and Ianto before finally resting on Ianto. He was saying something silently to him. Since Ben was standing directly behind him, he couldn’t see his lips moving.

 _Jack_ , Ianto said without speaking. He tilted his head down ever so slightly, the barest of nods, but Jack caught it. Then Ianto started to count down. _Three_.

Jack had no idea what Ianto was planning but he trusted him to know what he was doing. He kept his gun up.

 _Two_.

“I said drop the gun!” Ben snapped, agitated.

 _One_.

Ianto suddenly jerked his head down as much as he could, ducking to try and get out of the way of the bullet that was about to be fired into his brain.

Ben fired. Jack fired a split second later.

Ben stared at Jack, nothing but anger and hatred locked onto his face, a red hole through his head. He was still for a moment then slowly fell over. The little vial he’d been holding in his other hand crashed and shattered on the ground. The liquid that had been inside seeped into the floor. A small amount of smoke came curling up towards the ceiling.

Ianto’s head slumped forward.

 _No_. “Ianto!” Jack cried out, surging forward. He set his gun on the ground and quickly went to work untying him. “Tosh, help me!”

Tosh worked on the other side then untied his torso while Jack got his legs.

“OWEN!” Jack yelled, gathering Ianto into his arms and finally, _finally_ , holding him close. “Ianto? Look at me!” He shifted his lover a bit so that Ianto’s neck was resting in the crook of his arm. Jack drew his other hand up to press it against Ianto’s face.

Ianto’s eyes were flickering as he fought to stay awake.

“Just hang on, Owen’s coming. You’re safe now.” He slid his hand around to cup the back of his head so he could support it better. “You’re going to be-” Jack froze.

“Jack?” Tosh asked, concerned.

Slowly, Jack pulled his hand away from Ianto’s head. He stared at it in horror. It was soaked in blood.

“Fuck,” Owen said, appearing behind him. He dove onto his knees, yanking a new pair of gloves out of his medical kit. “Bloody fucking hell, what did they _do_ to him?!” Owen raged, quickly getting to work. “Ianto, stay with us,” he demanded.

“Ianto, look at me. Look at me!” Jack yelled, wanting to shake him hard, to keep him from falling asleep, because if he fell asleep… “Ianto, I need you to look at me.”

Ianto’s eyes rolled back into his head for a moment but then he blinked and managed to focus on Jack. He smiled slightly, lifting up a trembling hand to touch Jack’s cheek for a moment. He opened his mouth to speak but only succeeded in coughing up blood.

“No, no, don’t say anything, just stay still. Damnit, don’t you _dare_ leave!” Jack snapped, frantic.

“S’okay,” Ianto managed to croak out, looking into his eyes for a solid five seconds before his eyelids flickered shut and he became a dead weight in Jack’s arms.

“NO!” Jack yelled at him. This was not happening. This was _not_ happening. Jack wouldn’t let it.

Owen quickly brought his fingers up to press them against Ianto’s neck. He was still for a moment before he checked to see if he was still breathing. “His heartbeat’s fine and his breathing is too. But he’s got a shitload of blood all over him…” he said, gently probing the back of Ianto’s head for wounds first. He paused, then searched again. “There’s no wound.”

“He’s bleeding!” Jack pointed out the obvious.

“It’s got to be someone else’s. There’s no wound, Jack; I’ve checked twice. Let me look at the rest of him.” Owen did a quick search over Ianto only to find no other wounds. “I’m telling you, that can’t be his blood.”

Jack looked at Owen in puzzlement for a moment before he looked back down at Ianto. “But we heard him screaming.”

“I can do an internal scan on him,” Tosh put in, already pushing buttons on her PDA. “Hang on… No, nothing. Owen’s right, there are no wounds on him at all.”

Owen nodded. “Right, let’s get him back to the SUV. They had to have done _something_ to him.” He threw his kit back together and wordlessly handed it to Tosh, who took it. Together, he and Jack carefully lifted Ianto up.

“Remember, there’s one other, so keep an eye out,” Jack warned as they carried Ianto out of the building.

Gwen was supporting a shaken Dylan. “I can’t believe she shot me,” the young man said, sound distressed. “She _shot_ me.”

“Is Ianto alright?” Gwen asked, flicking a glance at her friend.

“We don’t know,” Jack answered honestly, hoping that he was.

“Dylan, is there another vehicle around here?” Gwen pressed. “There’s not going to be enough room in the SUV for all of us.”

“I… yeah, we have a pick-up truck nearby. Ben has the keys,” Dylan replied, looking at her.

“Tosh,” Jack said and the other woman nodded, getting the message. She went back into the room they’d been holding Ianto in and came back out in a few moments with a set of keys in her hand.

“Alright. Gwen, you take Dylan in the truck.” He gave the young man a wary glance. “I trust we don’t have to tie you up to make sure you don’t do anything drastic.”

“He’ll be fine, Jack,” Gwen said in defense.

“We’ll follow you back to the Hub, just in case,” Jack told her as Tosh handed Gwen the keys. “Tosh, go with her and bring it here. Dylan, show them where it is.”

Tosh, Gwen, and Dylan set off to go get it while Jack climbed into the back of the SUV, holding Ianto in his arms.

Owen made one of the computers come out in front of him. “Let me get a sample of the blood on him. I’ll see if it’s his or not,” he said, opening up his medical kit and getting out a swab. He scooped up some of the blood that was still hadn’t dried on Ianto then input it into the computer.

“Well?” Jack pressed, wanting to make sure Ianto was alright.

“It’s… his,” Owen confirmed, staring at the answer the computer was giving him. “But he has no wounds, internally or externally. Nothing. Wait a moment…” He typed something into the computer. “There’s something else, something in his blood… I don’t know what it is. There’s no match for it in our database. It’s got to be something we’ve never seen before.” He gave Jack glanced at Jack, a twinge of worry in his features. “Let me get a blood sample from him to see if it’s actually inside Ianto or just something on the outside…”

Jack tightened his hold on Ianto slightly, feeling a bit grim. “Is it doing something to him?” he demanded to know.

“No, it’s just… there. It’s not doing anything. I think it might be dead,” Owen informed him.

“Let’s hope so.” Jack picked up a white cloth from the medical kit and started to gently wipe the blood off of Ianto’s face. The sight was unnerving to him and the fact that Ianto hadn’t woken up yet didn’t make it any better.

Owen wasted no time taking a blood sample. He used the computer to scan the sample and swore softly when the results came up.

“What?” Jack pressed, worried at the answer.

“They’re inside him. They’re everywhere. The count is massively high but they’re just… sitting there, like either they’re dead or dormant,” he told Jack. “He’s not in any immediate danger but we should get him back to the Hub and take a closer look.”

Ianto still hadn’t come to when Tosh, Gwen, and Dylan pulled up in the truck. Owen quickly relayed the information they’d found to the other two members of the team. They all agreed that they needed to get back to the Hub as soon as possible.

Gwen and Dylan went back to the truck and Tosh got in the driver’s seat of the SUV. Owen sat in the back so he could be ready to help if something started to happen to Ianto.

Jack held Ianto close, stroking a hand through his hair lightly as they made their way to the Hub. They’d come back later to take care of the bodies; no one was bound to come out to the empty and unused building for awhile. Ianto was the top priority now.

Ianto’s head was resting on Jack’s shoulder, using it as a makeshift pillow. Jack took comfort in the feeling of his slow and deep breaths against his neck. He was still alive and he wasn’t dying. Still, Jack was worried about what might be in his bloodstream now… These people had worked for Torchwood One. If it wasn’t something in the database, then it must have been something they discovered afterwards…

Jack brooded about what it might possibly be until they were almost back to the Hub. A slight jerk was the only warning he had as Ianto came to with a frightened cry. For a moment, he didn’t seem to register his surroundings and started to struggle.

“Ianto!” Jack said, holding him tighter so he wouldn’t hurt himself. “Ianto, it’s okay, you’re safe!” His teammate and lover didn’t seem to understand that as Jack suddenly found a fist jammed into his face. “Ow! Owen, help me!”

Owen leaned over, grabbing onto Ianto’s flailing hands after a quick struggle to catch them, then held them tight. Ianto let out a scream of protest.

Keeping one arm locked around Ianto’s body, Jack pressed a hand to his face and tried to force him to look at him. “Ianto! _Ianto!_ Hey!” he yelled. “It’s Jack!”

Finally, Ianto’s wide, terrified eyes locked onto his and he stilled.

“It’s _over_ ,” Jack insisted, not taking his hand away. “You’re safe. I’ve got you.”

When he didn’t struggle again, Owen let go of his wrists. Ianto let out a deep, shuddering breath and relaxed against Jack, fisting his hands into his greatcoat.

“Are you okay?” Jack asked. He placed his hand on the back of Ianto’s still bloody head and guided it forward to rest on his shoulder once more.

“I’m fine,” Ianto murmured, sounding worn out.

“Did they hurt you?”

“I’m _fine_ ,” Ianto insisted, quiet but firm. Jack could tell he didn’t want to talk about what happened just then so he let it go, intending to ask later.

They drove the rest of the way in silence. Jack knew Ianto was anything but fine from the tears he shed silently against his neck as he trembled slightly. When they arrived, he waved the others off and helped Ianto out of the car, shielding him from view for a moment so he had a chance to wipe his face and compose himself. Jack was glad he’d cleaned the blood off earlier. It made the trace of tears less noticeable.

“Alright,” Owen began. “Let’s go inside. I’ll take care of him,” he said, jerking a thumb at Dylan, “then run some tests on you, see if we can-”

“ _No_ ,” Ianto said stiffly, visibly flinching when Owen said ‘run some tests’. “I’m fine. I’m going home.”

“Ianto, you’ve got something inside you and we don’t know what the hell it is!” Owen pressed.

“I said I’m fine,” Ianto repeated through clenched teeth. He turned to Jack pleadingly, trusting the captain to trust him. “Take me home. Please. I know what they did and I know I’m fine. Please, Jack. I want to go home.”

“If you know what they did, then why don’t you tell us?” Owen asked insistently.

“Let it go, Owen.” Jack’s voice was sharp and firm. “It can wait. For now, take care of Dylan. Help him out. We’ll be back later. Let’s go, Ianto.” He held out his hand for the car keys.

Ianto quickly walked around the SUV to get into the front passenger’s seat, disappearing from view.

“Jack, do you really think it’s a good idea to let him go home?” Owen asked skeptically, handing the keys over nonetheless.

“I trust him and I’ll be with him if anything goes wrong,” Jack answered. “I’ll call you after awhile to let you know what’s going on.”

Owen held his hands up in defeat. “Okay, you’re the boss. Let’s go, kid,” he said to Dylan, leading him off to the Hub.

“Tell Ianto I’m glad he’s alright,” Tosh said with a small smile before following Owen.

“Jack…” Gwen started to say, staying behind.

“I’m taking him home, Gwen. Don’t worry about him. He’ll be alright,” Jack insisted.

“It’s not that,” Gwen confessed, looking at him a bit thoughtfully. “It’s just… Have you told him? That you love him… because you should, if you haven’t,” she urged gently.

Jack paused for a moment before he gave her a reassuring smile. “He knows.” He cast a glance back at the SUV where Ianto was waiting, repeating the words more softly. “He knows.”

*********************************************************

The ride home was filled with silence. After awhile, Jack reached out and rested a hand on Ianto’s knee lightly. Ianto didn’t flinch at the contact but he didn’t look at Jack either, continuing to stare out the window. He didn’t move for a few moments, then slowly rested his own hand over Jack’s, clutching it tight.

They arrived at Ianto’s home and before Jack had even unbuckled his seatbelt, Ianto was already out and practically running to the front door. “Ianto!” Jack called worriedly, quickly following him. A small part of him hoped Ianto wouldn’t lock the door before he could get in but no, Ianto left it wide open. Jack closed it firmly behind him as Ianto ran up the steps to the second floor.

“Ianto?” Jack asked, hurrying up after him. A door slammed shut. When Jack got to the second floor, the bedroom door was open. The door to the room that used to be Ianto’s bedroom as a child that he’d turned into a little library and study was open as well. The bathroom door was shut.

Jack went up to it and rapped his knuckles on the wood. “Ianto, are you alright?” He tried the handle. It was locked. “Ianto,” Jack called out, jerking the door a bit to see if he could force it open.

“I’m fine,” Ianto called back. “I’m just…” Washing all the blood off him, Jack knew. “I’ll be out in a moment.”

“Let me know if you need anything,” Jack answered, leaning against the wall by the door to wait. He stayed there until after the shower had been turned off and the door opened to reveal Ianto in his dressing gown, wet from the water. “Are you alright?” Jack questioned again, hoping to get an honest reply this time as he reached out and lightly touched Ianto’s arm.

Ianto didn’t answer, moving past him to head downstairs.

“Ianto, would you talk to me?” Jack asked, getting a little annoyed and exasperated by Ianto’s insistence he was fine when it was clear that he wasn’t.

“I need to show you something,” was all he got in reply.

He followed Ianto into the kitchen. By the time he got there, Ianto had picked up a kitchen knife. He was just in time to see Ianto drive it into his hand.

“Ianto!” Jack yelled, running over to him as the other man hissed in pain. “What the hell are you doing?! Are you crazy?! No, don’t!” He tried to stop Ianto as he grasped the knife’s handle and pulled it out, causing the wound to ooze blood. Snatching a nearby tea towel, Jack pressed it to the wound, trying to stop the bleeding.

Ianto tried to tug his hand away. “Jack, just watch,” he said through gritted teeth.

“No, we need to get you to the-” Jack started to protest but was cut off.

“ _Jack_ ,” Ianto said insistently. “Just _watch_.”

He studied Ianto for a moment, then slowly lifted the tea towel to look at Ianto’s hand. It was still bleeding but as Jack watched, the wound seemed to… shrink. Jack stared in disbelief as Ianto’s hand slowly healed right there in the kitchen. “But… how…?” he stammered, looking at Ianto once again in shock.

Ianto took in a deep breath. “The vial. What was in it… they wanted to test it.” He laughed bitterly. “It works.”

It took Jack a moment to realize what Ianto meant. Anger surged through him and if Ben hadn’t already been killed, he would have hunted him down and murdered him painfully. “They tested it on you. All that blood… it was yours. Ianto, what did they _do_ to you?”

“Beat me, obviously,” Ianto said in the same bitter tone. “Ben made a game of it, trying to see what he could do, what the limit was before I would die. He shot me repeatedly… my feet, my legs, my arms… He even shot me in the chest, not my heart, though. He wanted to see what else he could do before he did that. My lungs filled with my own blood before they healed all the way. He stabbed me all over the place… He split the back of my head open, Jack. He _split_ the back of my _head_ open and I could _feel_ it. I felt it not only when he did it but as it _healed_ to. And it _hurt_. It hurt like _nothing_ I’ve ever felt before.” By now, Ianto’s voice was trembling dangerously as he stared down at his hands, clenching and unclenching them repeatedly.

Jack turned Ianto around to face him and crushed him in a tight embrace. “My God, Ianto… It’s…” He gave a dry laugh. “I won’t say it’s okay because it’s _not_. I promise, I will find Alistair Johnson and make him _pay_ for this. I’ll _ruin_ him. I’ll make it so he’ll never be able to work at another hospital again and spend the rest of his life in jail. He doesn’t deserve death for doing this to you.”

Ianto didn’t protest, closing his eyes and hugging Jack as close as he could. He felt safe and protected once again. He knew Jack would do his very best to not let anyone hurt him any more and probably wouldn’t let him out of his sight for the next few days. Ianto had no complaints about that. He was badly shaken and the energy he’d used being forced to heal himself over and over again had left him drained and exhausted. He just wanted to sleep for as long as possible in Jack’s arms.

Jack sensed that Ianto was about to fall asleep standing up, so he started to guide him out of the kitchen, keeping one arm around his waist firmly. “Come on,” he murmured. “Let’s clean your hand up and get you to bed.”

Ianto fisted a hand into Jack’s greatcoat. “Please stay,” he begged softly.

Jack pressed a kissed into his hair. “I will, I promise. I’m not going anywhere,” he reassured him.

They went upstairs to the bathroom and Jack washed the blood off of Ianto’s hand, being almost surprisingly tender. He noticed the way Ianto pointedly didn’t look in the direction where his bloody clothes were lying on the floor.

“You should take a shower,” Ianto murmured. “I’ll wait up for you.”

Jack glanced down at himself, only now realizing that he had Ianto’s blood all over his clothes too. “I’ll only be a minute,” he promised. “I’m just going to call the team first and let them know I’m staying here.”

Ianto nodded minutely, dropping his dressing gown on the floor and going into the bedroom.

Jack heaved a sigh, running a hand through his hair as he got out his mobile. He called the Hub and got Tosh.

“How is he?” was the first thing out of her mouth.

“He’s not in any danger,” Jack confirmed. “I know what’s happened to him and I’m absolutely sure he’s going to be alright. He just needs some time. I’m staying with him tonight. I’ll give you a call in the morning to see if we’ll come in or not. It depends on how he’s doing.”

“Alright. Jack, we’ve got a bit of a problem…” she confessed.

“What’s that?”

“We’ve found Dylan’s aunt and uncle who live near London. Owen and Gwen are going to drive him there tomorrow. Gwen wants to make sure he gets situated alright, but she won’t give him any retcon. He told us how grateful he was to Ben and the others for not making him take any after what happened to his parents. He swears he wants nothing more to do with hunting aliens down and will gladly go to live with his aunt and uncle until he gets back on his feet, but he’s begged us not to take his memories away. What should we do?”

“Keep him there at the Hub until I can come and talk to him. I’ll decide after that.” Right now, Jack just wanted to get back to Ianto.

“Alright, I’ll tell the others. And Jack?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m glad you’re there with Ianto. He looked like he needs someone right now. Take care of him and give him our love,” she said warmly.

“Thanks,” Jack replied, a little touched. “I will. Goodbye.”

He hung up and removed his clothes, bunching up the bloodstained clothing in the corner and covering them with his greatcoat. He’d take care of them later. Jack took a fast shower, making sure that all the blood was off of him before he did a not so thorough job drying himself, then made his way into the bedroom.

Ianto was sitting up under the covers, watching the adjoining door between the two rooms. He visibly relaxed and smiled slightly when Jack entered.

Jack shut the lights off and slipped into the bed. Ianto immediately curled close and Jack wrapped his arms around his body to hold him.

They were silent for awhile, Jack stroking Ianto’s hair lightly and listening to his breathing. He stayed awake, wanting to make sure Ianto feel asleep before he did.

“Jack?” Ianto murmured.

“Yeah?”

“Will you hold me?”

“I am holding you,” Jack replied, tightening his embrace for a moment to assure him he was.

“No,” Ianto said, reaching up and taking Jack’s face between his hands. “ _Hold_ me.”

Jack paused, looking at him searchingly. “Are you sure?”

Ianto gave him a wan smile. “I’m not fragile. My body’s fine. Please. I want to feel you.”

“Okay.” Jack rolled over so he was lying on top of Ianto. He rested his arms on either side of him and leaned down to kiss his mouth firmly.

Ianto spread his legs open to give Jack more room to fit and slowly slid his arms up his back, returning the kiss. He grasped onto his shoulders, elbows bent between Jack’s arms and body, and pulled Jack down until their chests were pressed together. He rolled his hips up repeatedly, trying to create more friction.

Jack moaned softly at the feeling, plunging his tongue into Ianto’s mouth and kissing him more desperately. Ianto hooked his legs around his in an effort to bring them as close together as possible. Jack lowered a hand to lightly drag his fingers up Ianto’s thigh, causing sparks of pleasure where he touched the younger man.

Ianto brought his hands up to take Jack’s face in his own then slid them down to his chest, breaking a kiss to gasp and beg, “ _Please_. Now, Jack. I want you now. We can save everything else for later.” He gave him a smile, his expression unreadable behind it. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Wanting to drive that look from Ianto’s face, Jack slipped a hand around the back of his head and pressed it close for a hard kiss. Not willing to break contact, he pulled Ianto with him as he leaned over and fumbled blindly with his free hard for what they needed. Ianto reached up to clutch his shoulders, holding on as Jack rolled them onto their sides for a moment then laid him back down.

He was quick but efficient in preparing Ianto, moving down to lave at his nipples while he worked. Ianto curled his fingers into his hair, arching upwards and tilting his head back as he gasped and moaned. Jack waited until he was steadily pushing down on his fingers before he moved back up, gathering Ianto into his arms.

“ _Please_ ,” Ianto begged again, kissing him passionately. Jack gently slid inside him and Ianto let out a long, low moan. After only a few seconds, he started to move against Jack, legs spread wide. “Jack. _Jack_ ,” he gasped, unable to say anything else as he held on to him tightly.

“I’ve got you,” Jack told him, soft and soothingly.

“I love you,” Ianto managed in reply, looking at him with glistening eyes.

“Shhhh,” Jack murmured, kissing him lightly. “I love you too. Just let it go. You’re safe now.”

Ianto smiled at that, really smiled, and a wave of relief swept over Jack. He knew then that Ianto would be alright. “Because I’m with you,” Ianto agreed sincerely. “I said I wasn’t fragile. More, Jack. I want more. Harder.”

Jack did as he asked, thrusting so deep that Ianto let out a strangled cry, clutching his hands in Jack’s hair desperately. Ianto locked his legs around his once again, crying out with every thrust. They kissed and Jack moaned into his mouth as Ianto kept making sharp little sounds.

“ _Jack_ ,” Ianto gasped after awhile and he knew that the younger man was close.

“Ianto,” Jack said almost desperately, moving with no control now. “It’s okay.”

With a loud cry, Ianto arched up and came, muscles squeezing around Jack so tightly that it only took him a few more thrusts before he followed Ianto over the edge, groaning his name.

They lay still for a moment, catching their breaths before Ianto grabbed Jack’s head and kissed him almost frantically.

Jack pulled out, kissing him back and the pace eventually changed from fast and frantic to slow and lazy, filled with content.

Jack rolled onto his back and pulled Ianto close, holding him in his arms. Ianto snuggled closer, resting his head on his chest. He was quiet for awhile and Jack thought he’d gone to sleep before he whispered, “Jack?”

“Hmmm?” he replied, having almost drifted off himself.

“Ben made me drink half the vial. I won’t grow old, you know,” Ianto pointed out quietly.

Jack opened his eyes and stared up at the ceiling, silent.

“I won’t grow at all. I’ll be the same until the day I die… and I most likely won’t die for awhile, unless it’s something that would kill me instantly,” he noted.

Jack tightened his arms slightly, feeling uncomfortable. “Can we not talk about you dying? You came close enough to it today as it is.”

“What I’m saying is… maybe… something good’s come out of this,” Ianto went on, as if he was afraid Jack would disagree with him. “Barring any bad accidents… or incidents, I won’t age.” He tilted his head up to look at Jack. “I could be with you forever.”

Jack sucked in a sharp breath. He hadn’t thought about that at all until Ianto mentioned it. “It’s not always a good thing to live forever,” he said slowly.

Ianto reached up to lightly touch Jack’s face. “You wouldn’t have to be lonely anymore.”

Jack’s heart tightened for a moment as he gave a soft laugh. “Ianto Jones, always thinking about other people and never about himself.”

“I’ll still have the choice to die when I want to, yes,” Ianto consented, “but why would I when I’ve got you?”

“Ianto… You could be with me for a very long time.”

“I see no problem with that at all… unless you don’t want-”

“No!” Jack protested quickly. “God, no, if you could stay with me forever…” he trailed off.

“Then what’s the problem?” Ianto pressed, sounding a little worried.

Jack was silent, trying to come up with a reason. He slowly started to smile. “You know what?” he answered honestly. “I can’t think of any. Not one.”

*********************************************************

Ianto smoothed the front of his shirt down, a bit nervous.

Jack chuckled, grasping onto his elbow reassuringly. “Relax. She’s a nice person, trust me.”

“Relax,” Ianto muttered. “You’re telling me to relax when I’m about to meet the only relative I have left whom I have never seen before in my life.”

“But you seem glad to be able to meet her,” Jack pointed out. He was happy to see that Ianto was much better than he had been a few days ago.

“I know, it’s just…” Ianto trailed off as the doorbell rang. “That’ll be her.” He quickly forgot what he was about to say, hurrying to the front door and pulling it open.

Seren Walker stood outside with her husband, looking a bit anxious. She smiled nervously when he looked at her. “Ianto?”

A warm smile lit up Ianto’s face. “Seren. It’s lovely to meet you.”

For a moment, the two second cousins just looked at each other, then Seren surged forward to throw her arms around Ianto’s neck. “Oh I’m so glad to see that you’re alright!” she cried out.

Ianto laughed, hugging her back. “I’m glad to be alright too. Please, come inside.”

After the events that had happened, Ianto knew it would have been hard to come up with a cover story for what Seren had seen and heard. Making sure that retcon wouldn’t harm her unborn child, Jack had gone back to visit, giving both her and Aaron a dosage that would wipe the last few days from their memory. When he left, he took Ianto’s personal things back. The Walkers would only remember getting the call that Ianto had died. When they arrived at the hospital, putting down their memory loss to grief and inability to sleep well, they’d been told that it was a case of mistaken identity. Tosh made sure that a different receptionist was working that day so they wouldn’t run into any problems.

Thinking that Ianto had died must have bolstered Seren’s courage because she called him later that day, finding his name and address in the phone book. After introducing herself and apologizing for not having the courage to call him years ago, Ianto gladly invited her over, apologizing for not having received her letter.

“This is Jack Harkness,” Ianto introduced.

Jack, who had been standing back in the entryway, moved forward to shake first Seren then Aaron’s hand. They didn’t remember him so as far as they knew, it was the first time they were meeting.

“It’s great to meet you,” Jack told them, giving his trademark grin.

“It’s wonderful to meet you too,” Seren said, giving Ianto a quick glance, asking him silently to clue her in as to what Jack was to him.

“Jack’s my partner,” Ianto answered, silently praying that Seren wouldn’t be put off by that statement. He didn’t want one of his only remaining relatives to reject him before he even got to know her. He also hoped Jack wouldn’t be upset by what he said, noting the look of slight surprise on his face. He’d never introduced Jack to anyone that way before. Come to think of it, he’d never introduced Jack to anyone at all. There’d been no one to do so to before.

Seren blushed a little, looking between the two of them. “Partner?” she repeated to clarify.

“Partner,” Jack confirmed. “I hope that’s not a problem…?” He glanced at Ianto, as if asking the question to him as well.

“Oh, no, not at all!” Seren replied, smiling sincerely. “Not a problem at all. I’m really glad you have someone. I wouldn’t have wanted you to be lonely all those years after your father died.”

Ianto smiled back, reaching out and placing a hand on Jack’s shoulder. He gave it a squeeze, answering Jack’s question silently. “I’m glad I have him too. Would you like some tea?”

Seren turned to look at her husband, beaming. Aaron nodded, wrapping an arm around his wife as he returned her happy look. “We’d love that,” Seren answered, turning back to Ianto.

*********************************************************

Alistair stood across the street, a pair of sunglasses hiding his face. He watched Dylan walk out the door of his aunt and uncle’s house, followed by the couple. Dylan was smiling brightly as he talked to them. Alistair couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen him smile like that. Now he knew for sure Dylan wasn’t fit for the job they’d brought him into. He’d no doubt Torchwood had probably retconned him. He’d have a better life now and for that, Alistair was actually glad.

Dylan opened the back door of the family car, then paused. He glanced over where Alistair was standing and froze. He was still for a moment, then smiled ever so slightly, raising his hand in goodbye.

Alistair was startled. The kid remembered. They hadn’t retconned him? He shook his head slightly in disbelief, giving a short wave back before he turned and walked off. He was happy for the young man, that he’d been let free. It showed that Jack Harkness wasn’t as much of a monster as he had first thought.

He’d run. Ever since Ben ordered Faith and him to take out the rest of Jack Harkness’ team, he’d run away. He’d seen the anger and fury just beneath the surface in Harkness’ eyes when they’d met at the hospital. Ianto Jones was very important to him and Alistair knew they would pay dearly for what they’d done. To save his own skin, he’d left.

He wouldn’t stop hunting aliens down and getting rid of them in London. That was his territory. It’d always be his territory. He’d just have to do it much more discreetly and carefully, to not just keep himself alive from the aliens, but to keep himself off the radar. Alistair didn’t want to take the risk of Harkness finding him. He’d never forget those eyes, that cold face. He hoped he would never have to see it again.

*********************************************************

“So,” Jack said, sitting on the couch next to Ianto while Seren was using the loo. To celebrate, Aaron had gone out to get some take away, insisting that Ianto and Jack stay there so they could get to know Seren better and so Ianto could show her things around the house. She’d laughed out loud when Ianto told her the story of Fang, pulling the dragon down from his perch on the top of the refrigerator. Now, Fang was resting in Jack’s lap as he fiddled with the dragon’s wings. “Partner, huh?”

Ianto bit down on his lip slightly, suddenly feeling nervous. “I hope you don’t mind that I said that. Would you rather I have said we were just friends?”

“No, it’s fine,” Jack told him, grinning. “I mean, we really are. We’re in a relationship… We love each other… We are.” He looked at Ianto seriously. “I’m… really glad that we’ll get to have a longer life together. If you want that. And if you ever-”

“Jack Harkness, if you’re about to say something along the lines of ‘if you ever want to leave’ or ‘if you don’t love me anymore then you can go’, shut your mouth,” Ianto said firmly. “I already told you. I’m glad too. You won’t have to be so lonely anymore. I love you and I need you. You’re stuck with me.” He raised an eyebrow challengingly. “Unless there comes a day when you don’t-”

“Hey, I don’t get to say it, then you don’t get to say it!” Jack shot back with a content grin. His face softened. “There’s never going to be anyone else like you. You’re the only person who’s managed to worm their way into my life when I didn’t want anything to do with them at first. And now I’m really glad you did.” A cheeky smirk slipped onto his expression as he leaned closer. “But back to the matter at hand. If we’re partners, does this mean I get to move in?”

“No,” Ianto said firmly, wrapping a hand around the back of Jack’s neck and tugging him forward. He reached down and pushed Fang off Jack’s lap onto the floor. “But if you bring loads of things over, leave them here, and spend the night every night, I won’t kick you out.”

“That sounds a lot like moving in,” Jack murmured against Ianto’s mouth, reaching up a hand to rest it against his cheek.

“Think what you will,” Ianto replied and kissed him.

Jack slid a hand into his hair and pushed Ianto down onto the couch as they kissed. Ianto placed his arms on Jack’s back, humming contentedly as he hugged him close.

A cough nearby alerted them of someone else’s presence in the room.

Ianto quickly pushed Jack away and sat up, blushing at being caught making out while a family member was visiting. Jack just grinned smugly. Ianto resisted the urge to smack him while he stammered an apology. “I’m sorry, Seren.”

Seren sat down in a nearby chair and grinned back. “Oh, so _that’s_ what you meant by partner,” she said cheekily. “You told me you were investigators; I thought it was just an at work relationship.”

Jack threw back his head and laughed. “I like your cousin, Ianto. I like her a lot.”

“I’m sorry, Jack, I already have a husband,” Seren said, reaching forward and patting Jack’s knee in mock sympathy.

“That’s too bad. You’re a pretty girl,” Jack replied, joining the banter.

Ianto scooped Fang off the floor and threw the dragon at his partner. Jack made a noise of protest, throwing his arms up to shield himself from the attack. “Jack, please do not flirt with my cousin especially when she’s pregnant.”

Seren laughed. Jack just pulled Ianto close and kissed him again.

**Author's Note:**

> And there it is! A lot of new things happened in canon, so I reworked a lot of plot framework things to incorporate the new canon info, lol. I also tweaked my NPCs a bit for Soul Song because I felt I had too many that weren't plot necessary in this original version. You can probably tell who turned into who when comparing this with Soul Song, haha.
> 
> And now you have a snippet about some things to come in the rest of the Soul Song saga! There are other aspects from this story that I've carried over that I just haven't gotten to yet =D
> 
> In any case, I hope you enjoyed this blast from the past!


End file.
